Democrats, who long have chafed under the stipulations of the Constitution that make the United States a constitutional republic rather than a democracy, have introduced a House resolution to abolish the Electoral College and exchange it with a national popular vote for president and vice president.
The resolution, led by Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., claims that the “development of mass media and the internet has made information about Presidential candidates easily accessible to United States citizens across the country and around the world,” the Washington Examiner reported.
While Democrats now have the majority in the House and Senate as well as the White House, the measure is not likely to succeed because a constitutional amendment must be ratified by two-thirds of the states.
The Electoral College was established as a compromise between those who wanted the president elected by a vote in Congress and those who sought a direct vote.
Cohen contends the Electoral College now is an “anachronism,” and the Constitution already has been changed, for example, to allow citizens of all races and women to vote.
The resolution states:
Whereas the Founders of the Nation established the electoral college in an era of limited nationwide communication and information sharing; Whereas the electoral college is premised on an antiquated theory that citizens will have a better chance of knowing about electors from their home States than about Presidential candidates from out of State; Whereas the development of mass media and the internet has made information about Presidential candidates easily accessible to United States citizens across the country and around the world; Whereas citizens now have a far better chance of knowing about out-of-State Presidential candidates than about Presidential electors from their home State.
Proponents of the Electoral College argue, among other things, that it prevents the nation’s large population centers from deciding elections, giving weight to the votes of smaller states.
Democrats also have been promoting an agreement, called the National Popular Vote, in which states would give all of their Electoral College votes to the winner of the national popular vote.
“Americans expect and deserve the winner of the popular vote to win office,” Cohen said.
“The president should always be elected by the people, not the politicians, and the Electoral College allows politicians to make the ultimate decision.”
The resolution has been assigned to the House Judiciary Committee.
Via Wnd