The Electoral College is Why We Have Red and Blue States and Are an Irrevocably Divided Nation

The Electoral College is the least democratic law in America. It prevents the concept of “every vote must count,” and allows the states to choose our presidents, not the people.

It is also one of the primary reasons red and blue states exist, and why our nation is divided to a degree not seen since the first Civil War.

Red and blue states are detrimental to democracy but advantageous for presidential wannabees. Their reelection campaigns need only to make perfunctory visits to red or blue states, depending on your party affiliation. The majority of the efforts are focused on swing states, and red or blue states whose social and political demographics experienced a significant change over the previous four years.

Although the population of America is approximately 340 million, the only number that matters for a presidential candidate is 270. This is the number of Electoral College votes needed to win the White House.

Something you will never hear from an elected official or the mainstream media makes this unfair situation even more significant.

Two of the “blue” states offer interesting facts. California is the most populous state in the country. Together, the wealth of blue states, California and New York, exceeds the economies of all red states combined. This clearly demonstrates what happened between 1787 and 1789 during the Constitutional Convention. Leaders of smaller states feared the power larger populated states possessed if the popular vote decided the outcome of our presidential elections. This resulted in one of the biggest mistakes made by our Founding Fathers. The other huge mistake was not imposing term limits on all three branches of our government from day one. The good men who placed their signatures on the Constitution underestimated the weakness of human beings. The lure of great wealth and great power is too strong for men and women without unbreakable principles and low moral standards.

Every four years thousands, if not millions of votes are never counted. If you live in a deep red state and vote for the Democratic candidate, you have wasted your time and effort.

Until the people have a voice in our government, it will remain dysfunctional. I expect this will not happen in my lifetime.

Op-ed by James Turnage