Gail Collins discusses the frustration with the Electoral College, explaining its convoluted origins and how it diminishes the impact of votes from states like New York in presidential elections, ultimately urging readers to blame the flawed system rather than swing states. (Shutterstock)
- A New York voter laments feeling ignored in the electoral process, as their state's votes are overshadowed by swing states.
- The Electoral College was created through a convoluted debate among the founding fathers, leading to a system that lacks proportionality.
- Collins humorously notes that voters in states like Pennsylvania and Arizona will ultimately decide the election, leaving others feeling disenfranchised.
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Opinion by Gail Collins on Sept. 26, 2024.
Dear Help Person,
I live in New York and nobody cares how I vote in the big, huge, potentially history-changing presidential race. All because of the Electoral College! Why do we have that thing and how can we get rid of it?
— Wants to Live in Pennsylvania
Dear Wants: Stop whining. True, the only people poll-watchers will really pay attention to are from a handful of states where the political division is very close. Nobody cares if about 2 million New Yorkers cast votes for Kamala Harris because nobody cares about the popular vote.
Snap question: Who won the popular vote in 2016?
Answer: Hillary Clinton, by about 2.9 million. But she lost a few states, including Michigan and Wisconsin, by itsy-bitsy margins, and that knocked her out of the White House. Blame the Electoral College.
Related Story: State Senator Thwarts GOP Effort to Lock Down All of Nebraska’s Electoral ...
How did we get stuck with this thing?
The Electoral College was created at the nation’s constitutional convention after a long, long struggle. Led by the Committee of Unfinished Parts.
Wait a minute. The committee of what?
Yeah, that’s the story. The founding fathers couldn’t decide whether the president should be elected by Congress or state legislatures, the people, or something else. They finally settled on something else.
“They squished it all together,” said Robert Alexander, an expert on the Electoral College at Bowling Green State University. Alexander likes to explain that the founders’ solution “looks like Frankenstein’s monster.”
These were the same guys who gave the power to do everything from trying impeachments to confirming members of the Supreme Court to the Senate, in which California and Wyoming have exactly the same number of votes despite the fact that California’s population is approximately 68 times as large.
What can I tell you, people? True, a lot of you are going to feel cranky when you diligently go to the polls on Election Day, say hello to all your neighbor-voters, and then go home to watch the whole world hanging on their fingernails to see what people who live in Pennsylvania and Arizona decide.
But don’t blame the swing states. Blame the Committee of Unfinished Parts.
–
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
c. 2024 The New York Times Company
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