Letter: Electoral College no longer works

For many years, I defended the existence of the Electoral College. But in hindsight, the process has never really been tested.

Besides assuring the president enters office with a majority of the vote — albeit the Electoral vote — the process elevates the need for a runoff election, and ensures “that the office of president will never fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications” (Federalist Papers). Case in point? Electing someone who is a known racist, xenophobe, misogynist, liar, bully, and clearly has no understanding of the U.S. Constitution.

With 2016 being the Electoral College’s first real test, it failed. My hypothesis is that it failed because of cable television, the internet, and social media, which combined have made the Electoral College truly antiquated.

Perhaps we should award the presidency to whoever earns the greater popular vote.

Perhaps if a president does get elected, but fails to carry 51 percent of the popular vote, he/she should be required to govern by building coalitions — agreements for cooperation between different political parties to govern.

Furthermore, by eliminated the Electoral College, it would put an end to the political monopolies held by the Republican and Democratic parties (i.e. the two-party system, which clearly is not working).

To use one of president-elect Trump’s favorite expressions, the Electoral College has proven to be a “disaster.”

This story was originally published November 10, 2016 at 10:02 PM with the headline "Letter: Electoral College no longer works."