This is a country that prides itself on the power of the people. Yet for some reason, our system for electing Commander in Chief fails to represent that value. On paper, the idea appears plausible in design to create better union. We've come to learn through history that it doesn't always work out in the people's (or the country's) favor.
So how come our electoral system is so corrupted? Is there a way to salvage it? Or should we turn to a new system? What could possibly replace the system we already have? The answers to these questions, believe it or not, are remarkably simple.
The United States' electoral system has been fairly prejudiced from the beginning. In fact, the only people originally permitted to vote were white males over the age of 21 that owned some form of property, giving those with more money more power over the functionality of the newly formed union.
It wasn't until 1870 that all races and former slaves and all races were permitted to vote. Poll taxes, however, complicated their voting process until the conclusion of the 1960's Civil Rights movement. Women haven't even been allowed to vote for 100 years. It wasn't until 1920 that women saw the inside of a voting booth for the first time.
Superdelegates don't remedy the situation either, as they can easily manipulate any close race into a seemingly wider gap in popularity among candidates. While typical delegates are chosen by voters during a state's primary or caucus, these juiced-up delegates are hand-selected by the Democratic National Committee in order to ensure the candidate selected for the nomination fully embodies the party's core beliefs.
Superdelegates do not have to reveal which candidate they officially support until the Democratic National Convention in July, where their votes are officially solidified. Typical delegates secure their selections during the state convention held shortly after the state's primary or caucus date. This leaves the door wide open for their power to be manipulated, which has become all too common in today's political atmosphere.
That's why it's time for us to completely abolish the electoral system and move on to a more realistic, functional system: Single Transferable Voting.
Utilizing the single-transferable vote method instead of our current system would provide voters with a format geared more towards the power of the people rather than leaving it in the hands of a select few individuals. For those who are unfamiliar with this method of voting, here's how it could have influenced this current election cycle had it been in place:
When Republican voters hit the polls this spring, Donald Trump repeatedly came out on top among a field of 17 candidates. The GOP has found itself split over the presumptive Republican nominee with many loyal members of the party flat out refusing to vote for the man. Single-transferable vote could have fixed this.
Instead of voting for one sole candidate, voters would be asked to rank candidates in contention from best to worst rather than selecting only one candidate. This would have given candidates like John Kasich, Ted Cruz, and even Jeb Bush more of an opportunity to obtain the nomination. This would give Republican voters more power to elect the nominee they feel represents them best to the nomination rather than a majority rule.
The electoral college does not accurately represent the desires of the entire population, something that singe transferable vote does more accurately. The electoral design was never geared towards equality from the get-go, so keeping such a system in place simply begs for corruption and sustained inequality. This is why we see unpopular candidates "earn" nominations in elections such as this one, with record-setting popularity levels for both current presumptive nominees.
If this country is truly serious about change, drastic alterations to our current political are necessary. Implementing single transferable vote is just one solution among thousands of possibilities, so long as we can accept the idea that change must occur in order for us to overhaul the broken system we currently reside under.