The Electoral College

By Chris Rytting

When our nation was founded, and the Constitution of the United States emerged as one of the most pivotal documents in history, the founding fathers made sure to promote, among other ideas, the system known as the Electoral College.

They originally intended for the Electoral College to consist of the highly educated individuals in society, elected in a democratic election by ordinary citizens who share the same ideals and priorities. The system rewards each individual state with a number of electors equal to the total sum of senators and representatives that state has in Washington D.C. already.    

This, from the outside, is a solid idea. However, things change quickly in America, and the system veered off course. Unconsciously, americans and electors alike adopted the ideology that the electors' responsibility is not to make their own, independent decision, but rather to cast their vote respective to which candidate the majority of the state votes for.     

The United States' current Electoral College consists of 538 electors, and holds its vote on December 15th. In the 2008 Presidential Race, held recently on November fourth, it would appear that the Democratic candidate Barack Obama laid waste to Republican John McCain with 349 electoral votes to 163, with 26 still up in the air. Obama claimed pivotal battleground states such as Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Nevada and Colorado to help him sustain a sizeable lead. However, Obama won by a mere six percent in the popular vote. 

The race is still on, contrary to many different forms of media across the nation, who declare Barack Obama as America's 44th commander-in-chief. 

The system is flawed because of the new direction it has taken, and also the lack of representation granted to the minorities in a given state. Since the electors side with whichever candidate the state sides with -be they a democrat, republican, or any other party member- the minority in any given state has absolutely no voice, giving democrats in Utah or republicans in New York a better reason to stay at home on election day and a decreased interest in being politically active.

As stated before, the actual Electoral College election finds itself smack in the middle of December on the fifteenth, and as of now, George W. Bush still presides. If all goes routinely, and the electors of the college vote in the same manner their states did, then Barack Obama will be sworn into office on January 20th of 2009.