Our electoral system is a joke; rather, the way we treat our electoral system is a joke. And, no, the Electoral College is far from a joke or outdated system of choosing our presidents. Are you confused or puzzled as to how this could be when so many "news" outlets have bashed the electoral college since the conclusion of the '16 election? You shouldn't be and probably wouldn't be if you had a little more background on why this system even exists in the first place.
Have you ever noticed how most states rarely switch which political party candidate receives their electoral votes? For example, Alabama gives their electoral votes to the modern Republican party in each election. Most states have a general bias that comes from the political influence of the people closest to you. Generally, neighbors share most or at least some political opinions with the people around them. This is especially true when you remain in the same location for extended periods of time. As much as you may want to say you're a "free-thinker" and your political opinion is "untainted" by the people around you, you're wrong. You get influenced by everyone you associate with on many different levels, and politics is far from an exception.
These influences cause a large issue because your opinions are not always freely your own but conformed to mesh with some of those around you. These trends usually carry as far as state lines or further and are a large component in how states fail to swing between presidential candidates. The only states that break this mold at all are the appropriately coined "swing-states", and this is why those states are so significant in deciding elections (coughFloridacough). Why is this such a big deal?
The purpose of the electoral college is to make elections more fair in the face of this "taint". By giving each state a set number of electors that are influenced by this political association, it combats the sheer number of votes that would always be associated to a candidate from the larger states in our union. You also can't really complain about larger states not being fairly represented, either, because the number of electors that a state is given is based upon the total number Congressional representatives a state has in Washington D.C. Thus, the Electoral College is actually a grand foresight given to us by the Founding Fathers as a means to combat states with enormous populations holding enormous political influences on our national government. It is a means to protect the sovereignty of smaller states.
It may not always follow the majority vote here in the U.S. Newsflash: it designed to follow the popular vote. It is meant to protect the sovereignty of all of our fifty states in the Union. So, the Electoral College is far from a joke. No, the joke for our political system comes in two major forms right now. Don't worry, I'm about to lay them out for you in nice and numbered form so that they stand out.
1. Our population doesn't give a damn about voting. Out of the 318.1 million people here in the U.S. (as of the 2014 Census) only about 130 million people voted. For all you numbers people out there, that's approx. 41%. Only 41% of our population cares enough about the future leadership of our nation to carry one of the most basic civic roles that we have. Granted, you should actually take some time to dig through all of the candidates and make triply sure you're throwing your votes where you want, but it doesn't take that long to do your duty.
2. Read this one out loud and remember it so you don't look like a jackass. The United States of America is not a democracy. We are a democratic republic. We are not a democracy. When it comes to the way our government is designed, it will serve you well you well to remember what our groundwork really is.
To be honest, go learn all that you can about our government and all the people we have in office. Learn about our laws. Figure out what needs to stay and what needs to go. Do your best to avoid the influences of your peers and make your own untainted opinions. It's the knowledge and power of We the People that can truly make America great again. And don't try to twist those words; you know what I mean.
