The Day

Time to drop the Electoral College

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Enough of who won the election. Today’s Electoral College picked Donald J. Trump. The Electoral College was not created to lessen the effect of population centers having too much influence. Trump doesn’t say a word about the Electoral College victory. He repeatedly says he won the election by the greatest margin ever, and discounts the validity of the plurality vote, even saying three million illegals voted.

The Electoral College was a compromise created in order to enhance the representa­tional influence of slave owners. You can’t apply the 3/5th compromise to the election of a president unless you have the Electoral College. Back then some regions, mainly the slave states, had more influence than other regions (slaves didn’t vote but magnified the power of slave holder).

If you knew who the 528 electors are, or political offices held now or in their past — example: Bill Clinton was an elector — you would agree your vote is of minimum value. The establishm­ent class picks a president. And of course the Supreme Court majority did once. When a rule or practice systematic­ally favors one party or group over another it is time for a change. This is 2017, not 1787.

The discussion should be about a Constituti­onal Amendment to address the Electoral College and while we are at it, gerrymande­ring. Joe Josephides Niantic

Thoughts and feedback about the Opinion pages can be emailed to Editorial Page Editor Paul Choiniere at p.choiniere@theday.com or by using his Twitter feed, @Paul_Choiniere. He can also be reached by phone at (860) 701-4306.

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