President-elect Donald Trump's win on Tuesday has many people talking about the Electoral College. For me, just the words "Electoral College" cause the Schoolhouse Rock tune to begin playing in my head. "I'm gonna send your vote to college, when you vote for president."
Like much of the Constitution, Article 2 Section 1 (Presidential Election by electors) was built on a compromise. Balancing the concerns of the large and small states, electors were distributed based on "the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress." This guaranteed states with small populations a minimum of three electoral votes.
Today, the difference is no longer small states and large states, but the balance of the small, but densely populated urban communities with the large, less populated rural communities. For example, geographically, Congressional District 8 is approximately half of Carroll County, three-quarters of Frederick County and one-quarter of Montgomery County. Congressman-elect Jamie Raskin won overall with 60 percent of the vote. However, in Carroll and Frederick counties, candidate Dan Cox garnered votes at a rate of 2 to 1 over his opponent. The density of the (gerrymandered) small chunk of Montgomery County in CD8 overpowers the rest of the district. The same issues are found in southern Maryland, where Congressman Steny Hoyer has a "safe" Democrat district representing rural St. Mary's, Charles and Calvert counties with enough of Prince George's County added in to guarantee his seat. Hopefully, Gov. Larry Hogan will be successful in his work to redistrict, but that is a digression from my point.
Most election rules are set by individual states and all but two states pledge all their electors to the winner of the popular state vote regardless of the margin of the win. Individual states determine rules about early voting, what is required to register to vote and what method is used to cast and tabulate votes. For 48 of the 50 states, it does not matter if the winner won by one-half of a percent or by 40 percent. Winner takes all and the election map becomes a sea of red and blue.
The number of electors are based on population, and not registered voters. Florida, a more densely populated state, sends 29 electors or one for every half-a-million residents. In Wyoming, there are three electors but they represent approximately 143,000 residents each. Maryland's ratio is 442,000 residents per elector and the national average is 436,000.
President-elect Trump's victory was resounding in terms of electors as he far surpassed the 270 required. Supporters of Secretary Hillary Clinton, however, want to point to the popular vote which reflects a two-tenths of a percent majority for her. In the history of the United States, there have been five occasions where the winner of the popular vote did not win the electoral vote. However, this election represents the second time in less than two decades the president-elect did not garner the largest percent of the popular vote.
Detractors then say it is not fair that the president-elect won without the majority of the popular vote. I would argue both teams knew the system and what it took to win going into the election. Democrats and Republicans strategized and spent countless dollars and energy appealing to the swing states. Virtually no time was spent by either candidate in Maryland as the 10 electors our state represents are safely counted as blue before the Democratic presidential candidate is even named.
If you look at one of the maps showing a county-by-county breakdown of the "red" and "blue," you see a map that even more intensely amplifies the "red is flyover country" argument. This election map mirrors those showing population density. A purely popular vote election would mean that candidates would abandon the voters in all of middle-America. The only votes that would matter would be population centers on the East and West coasts. Additionally, they would gear their messages and campaign strategy entirely for those audiences.
More than two centuries ago, the Founders were not thinking East and West coast when they devised the Electoral College. They were, however, looking to find a balance. Certainly this system will be examined by those unhappy with the election result. There are no doubt weaknesses within our electoral processes. My vote meant virtually nothing in my congressional district or for president.
Despite the weaknesses, I look forward to the next election cycle. With eternal optimism, enthusiasm and faith, I am grateful for the opportunity to participate in the process!
Karen Leatherwood writes from Eldersburg. Reach her at leatherwoodkarenm@gmail.com.
