Electoral College should be abolished

I am calling on my political representatives in Congress, Senators Portman and Brown and Representative Joyce to propose a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College and replace it with the election of the president of the United States by direct majority vote of the voters.

This has become urgently necessary as we have just witnessed President Trump’s attempt to use his office to pressure a state official into changing that state’s vote results. President Trump’s action clearly illustrates the danger of the Electoral College system being manipulated to alter the outcome of a presidential election.

He might have succeeded if not for Georgia Secretary of State Raffensperger’s integrity. We only know of this effort because it was taped and made public. Some other public officials, by contrast, are choosing to aid and abet the president’s behavior. This is behavior one would expect to see in the Russian Federation, not in the United States.

Even without corrupt intent such as President Trump has shown, the Electoral College system allows a president to be selected by a minority of voters over the will of the majority of voters, as has happened already twice in the past six presidential elections.

If this is a democratic republic, then the president of the United States should be elected by direct vote, just as is any congressperson, senator, governor, mayor, city council person, school board member, or other elected official.

I encourage other voters to also contact Senators Rob Portman and Sherrod Brown and Representative Dave Joyce to ask them to sponsor a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College. If your representatives are not willing to do so, ask them to explain why not?

Christopher Farrand Willowick