All people are equal and should thus be represented truthfully, accurately, and justly. An elemental extension of this belief is that all people should have an equal voice within the government, and the most fundamental platform of such a reality is an equivalent voting system. When hindered in these fundamental rights of democracy, it is our duty as the governed to implement a means of change. As the original Declaration of Independence states: ìÖ to secure these rights, governments are institutedÖderiving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing itÖas to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.î
The Electoral College clearly infringes on those rights upon which our country was formed. We believe that the Electoral College is an unjust voting procedure and denies our rights as citizens of the Unites States. Our government is founded on a principle of democracy, a government of the people and for the people, in which it is our unalienable right to elect the President directly.
However, the people of our great nation have lost faith in the current voting system, understanding that their vote contains little value within the constructs of the Electoral College. The Electoral College was grounded on a belief that the uniformed American public could not cast an informed vote on the Presidential election without a middleman. This was appropriate during a time when there was not adequate communication to the general public. However, this reason for the Electoral College is completely obsolete in the midst of the Information Age, as we now have television, radio, newspapers, and the Internet to inform the public. Everyone in the United States has access to information on the Presidential campaign, and it would be offensive to suppose that the average citizen is incapable of making up their own mind in the current day and age. Furthermore, it would have been grossly inefficient to conduct a popular vote at the time of the drafting of the Constitution, but today we have instantaneous communication networks spanning the country that would eliminate any such obstacle.
The Electoral College is, at best, irrelevant, and at worst, irresponsible. When our forefathers took up arms and shed blood for the right to decide their own fate they set an example that we cannot ignore. When a lack of democracy becomes apparent, it is yet again the right and responsibility of the governed to replace our current institution and create one that is more directly representative of the will of the people. We need to have Presidential elections in which all votes have equal value. Thus, let us vote as a people and replace the Electoral College with a popular vote.
