Political system reform?
I promise, this is my last political post. For a while anyway.
Believe it or not, most Americans are under the impression that your vote for the president counts. As you should know, this is actually not the case.
The US uses a system called the Electoral College which, according to the Wikipedia page “consists of 538 popularly elected representatives who formally select the President and Vice President of the United States“. So, in fact you are voting for a representative who, in-turn, votes for the president. And herein lies my first problem with the system.
You see, your representative is not required to vote for your candidate. They can vote for whoever they want! In addition to the fear that the average American would probably vote in a ‘professional wrestler’ for president, we are far beyond the technology to count each and every vote. Hell, every developer I know could build this system in just a few weeks!
But the current government won’t have that! By giving everyone an equal voice, they are giving up the power to control the vote. Our government is under the impression that most Americans are stupid, and sadly, I agree. But that still doesn’t change the fact that this system of control is morally and constitutionally wrong. It is every American’s right to be an idiot who is controlled by the media.
Let’s move on to my next point, which will undoubtedly begin the onslaught of Emails calling me “un-American” like I got for my last post. Keep them coming by the way, I enjoy a good debate as much as the next guy!
In 2004, we had a presidental election. You might remember the craziness that happened with the “Hanging Chad” Florida votes, the uncounted absentee ballots, and “voter list purging” (just to name a few). This isn’t conjecture, it’s fact. To fully understand my stance, let me put it to you this way: If you go shopping at a particular store, and you get ripped off you’d probably not shop there again, right? Right. However this logic, in no way, applies to the presidental election. It is clear (painfully so) that our last election was completely bogus. But, for some reason, the American people have no problem with putting that all aside and repeating the same cycle over again this year.
Why is it that no one has a problem shopping at this store? Let me save you the surprise… You’re going to get ripped off again.
The purpose of the Electoral College was not that it was impossible to count all the votes. The Founders believed that the power to the majority of people was dangerous in a direct democracy. That most people are ill-informed, and that the balance of power would be concentrated in those areas with larger populations. In direct voting, this is true. The Electoral College allows smaller states with a smaller population to have a say in electing the president. Your vote does count, within that of your state. As far as delegates not voting the way your state does, that is almost unheard of, and a lot of states have laws that do not allow their particular delegates to do that. Some even split their delegates according to popular vote.
Is the Electoral College morally wrong? No, I do not believe it is. A Direct Democracy would be governed what Jefferson called “the tyranny of the majority”. It is also not unconstitutional, since the Electoral College is specifically outlined in the Constitution itself.
And, the hanging chads election was 2000, not 2004!
Keep up the posts!
Comment by Ian — October 24, 2008 @ 11:18 am
LOL, you are correct. The hanging chad was 2000.
However, assuming the election isn’t a total sham (yeah, yeah… conspiracy theory.), I stand by my statement that your vote does not really count. Albeit only 3 times in it’s history where the popular vote and the outcome were not the same, once is enough to prove my point.
Thanks for commenting!
Comment by admin — October 24, 2008 @ 1:13 pm
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