A national popular vote would diminish Virginia’s influence
While political analysts debate Virginia’s long-term status as a blue or red state, one issue has emerged that sets politics aside as it has drawn consensus from both Democrats and Republicans in the commonwealth.
A movement to scrap the present system of how Virginians help elect the president — known as the Electoral College — has now failed under Democratic and Republican-controlled state legislatures and Democratic and Republican governors. Those who are actively working to bypass the Electoral College system in favor of a national popular vote (NPV) compact face a narrow and limited political path in Virginia.
Why? Perhaps Virginia lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle value an Electoral College process that preserves Virginia’s role in presidential elections and gives every state — especially states with large rural populations — an equal voice in presidential elections.
The Electoral College operates as a two-step democratic process. It gives voters more say in choosing the executive than in parliamentary systems, but still requires geographic balance. Winning takes more than just a plurality of popular votes. Campaigns and political parties reach out nationwide, always looking to “flip” a state. As a consequence, our politics become more dynamic and more balanced with equal representation from all regions of our nation. We have seen this process firsthand in Virginia, which is often a swing state in presidential elections.
The Founders of America’s government rejected a parliamentary system (in which Congress would have elected presidents) because it made Congress too powerful. They also rejected a national popular vote because it could give the largest states too much power over everyone else. The Electoral College is a compromise that minimizes the role of Congress in choosing presidents while also limiting the power of any one state or region.
Electoral College critics tend to disapprove of national election results when Republicans gain political ground. But if those same critics stepped back, they could see how the Electoral College has influenced politics in ways that benefit all
Americans. Without the Electoral College, national politics would be far more polarized. Under NPV, a handful of states with large city populations would gain more political clout and subsequently, more control of the election process.
We certainly acknowledge the importance of hearing from voters in California, New York and Illinois, but not within an election system that gives big state voters the ability to suppress Virginia’s voice in presidential elections.
The backers of the NPV movement hope to do just that and rewrite the rules for presidential elections without engaging in the proper process for constitutional change.
Amending the Constitution is a lengthy and difficult process for good reason. Redesigning or replacing the foundations of our government risks substantial, unintended consequences. Changing how we elect our president demands thoughtful deliberation by Congress and support from three-fourths of the states. But NPV supporters want to sidestep the constitutional process by getting a smaller group of states — possibly fewer than half — to forever change presidential election rules for everyone.
When the Constitution was written, few people around the world had any say in their government. The American Founders dared to invent a new form of government, a version of democracy in which power originates with the people but is divided among different branches and levels of government. A vital part of this system is the Electoral College, the two-step, state-based way we elect the president.
The Electoral College has served our nation well and should be preserved. No election system makes everyone happy all the time, but there are good reasons why very few major democratic nations around the world use a nationwide popular vote to choose their top executive. Should we ever decide, as a nation, to change our presidential election process, we should do it the right way — by amending the Constitution. Virginia lawmakers agree and have so far opposed NPV legislation. We hope any future effort to promote NPV in Virginia will see similar results.