Letter: Electoral College protects republic

The Founders created this nation based on the sovereignty of the states and limited the powers of the federal government.

A recent letter-writer stated “the presidency is the only elective office for which every citizen who is registered can vote.” No, you have no right to vote for the presidency. Your vote goes to one of the 538 electors who make up the Electoral College. They vote for the presidency, not you. The only direct vote you originally had in a federal election was for your representative to Congress.

Senators were originally assigned by state legislatures to represent the states, but in 1912 “pure democracy” advocates changed that to popular vote, so now the states have no representation in Washington. We should repeal the 17th Amendment to protect the states from a centralized government. The United States is not a democracy.

The Electoral College ensures a nationwide campaign that encourages coalition-building and makes fraud a more difficult task. A direct popular vote would render the states nothing more than regional cells of the centralized government and would guarantee a one-party dictatorship.

The letter lamented that Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump by more than 1 million votes, therefore she should be declared the winner. Hillary beat Trump by 1.5 million votes in New York City alone. Our constitutional republic safeguards us against such tyranny and guarantees that New York City doesn’t rule over South Carolina.

There is a reason our republic still stands. The Electoral College is a main reason why.

This story was originally published December 7, 2016 at 1:58 PM with the headline "Letter: Electoral College protects republic."