Mary Parrott gave us a nice lecture on how the electoral system fails to give full credit to the democratic principle of one man, one vote. (“A more democratic way to elect the president of the United States,” published July 17 in the Summit Daily News.)
The framers of our country and of the Constitution formed a republic. Having a classic education and reading history, I learned that a fully democratic system provides too many opportunities for a demagogue to sway masses with circuses, bribery and political manipulation, most prevelant in large, urban areas.
The 2016 election is a perfect example why the Electoral College was put in place. Clinton won the popular vote with a huge majority in the major cities of California and by a majority in Miami, Boston, northern Virginia, Philadelphia, Chicago and New York, to name a few.
Looking at the election using Dave Leip’s county-level election result data shows clearly that the geographically larger area of the country did not agree. As a republic, the founders foresaw the weakness of a purely democratic state and realized the voices of those who live in less populous areas should be counted.
The National Popular Vote Compact is nothing more than a method to circumvent the Constitution to the benefit of the party that controls the larger coastal populations.