The Coming War Between the States

The new Democrats in the US House of Representatives are proposing the elimination of the Electoral College in favor of a national direct popular vote for president.

Some background: the framers of the constitution knew that, without the electoral college system, the most populous states would elect the president, eliminating the votes of those in the states with lesser populations. That is why they constructed the Electoral College.

As of 2018, the population of the United States was 327.2 million. California, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, New Jersey and Virginia have a combined population of  170.7 million, while the rest of the 41 states have a combined population of 156.5 million. If, in an election, the nine most populous states cast only 51% of their votes for one candidate, while the rest of the states’ voters cast as much as 55% of its votes for another candidate, in a direct popular vote, the candidate that the nine most populous states voted for would win the election.

In the situation, those nine states always would have the potential, over the rest of the states, to elect a president. In other words, the votes of the citizens in 41 states would never be enough to elect a president, assuming they wanted to elect a candidate different from the winner in the nine most populous states.

In the unlikely event that a proposal to amend the constitution to eliminate the Electoral College in favor of a direct popular vote (such a proposed amendment would have to be ratified by three-fourths of the states) would be ratified, the voters in 41 states would be disenfranchised, and the nine most populous states always could elect the president.

The Electoral College exists to prevent that onerous possibility. If you want the citizens of California, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, New Jersey and Virginia always to elect the president in a direct popular vote, then you will agree with abolishing the electoral college.

If that were to happen, a number of states with lesser populations would seriously consider seceding from a country that rigs the presidential election system to a direct popular vote that would take away the votes of their citizens.

A vote to abolish the Electoral College could start a second War between the States. Preserve the Electoral College!