Does the Electoral College Allow 'a Minority of Americans to Control Us All?'

A New Jersey Star-Ledger op-ed proclaims, The Electoral College allows a minority of Americans to control us all. This was written by—can you believe it?—two Rutgers Law School students, Edward Monaghan and Jessica Friesen. These two are—can you believe it?—enrolled in the International Human Rights Clinic.

You don’t even have to look past the title to see that these two don’t seem to understand America. When you read the very first sentence, their lack of understanding is confirmed. “The Electoral college,” they proclaim, “is antithetical to the founding principles of this nation, that the people will choose who governs them.”

Defying history, the Founding Fathers radically reinterpreted the relationship of the government to the governed. They conceived of a nation in which no one controls anyone. Each of us, as individuals, have the freedom to self-govern our own lives based on the inalienable individual rights to life, liberty, and property. The government doesn’t control us at all; neither does a minority of voters; and neither does a majority.

Monaghan and Friesen complain that the Electoral College “does not fairly represent all voters,” based on the number of people represented by each Elector in each state. This “voter inequality” is unfair, they say. But the Founders were primarily concerned with liberty, not democracy. To protect those rights, the Founders devised a system of governmental checks and balances, the purpose of which is to prevent a liberty-crushing concentration of political power. The Electoral College is an integral part of that system. Keep in mind that this is the United States of America. The balance of power applies to states, not just voters. 

Monaghan and Friesen are obviously biased toward the national popular vote. But there is nothing sacred about that. They ignore that the process of choosing the Electors is determined by state legislatures, who themselves are chosen by popular vote. The bottom line is that the entire electoral process begins with a popular vote, including the process of choosing the president. There is nothing magical or inherently necessary about a national popular vote, as opposed to state popular votes or, within the states, district popular votes or local popular votes. 

It’s not that voting isn’t important. That “the people will choose who governs them” is certainly a Founding principle. Voting is fundamental -- to the electoral process. But it is not primary. There is a hierarchy to rights, according to the Founders. First come rights. Then comes government. Then comes the process of voting. The Founders properly placed checks and balances above process. “Voter inequality” is not unfair, within the context of liberty and balance of power. And neither is the Electoral College. 

Monaghan and Friesen fret that:

The system has led to serious consequences that go beyond just determining the president but also who serves on the Supreme Court and who decides critical issues that will impact our lives, our children’s lives and our grandchildren’s lives.

It would be horrifying if the “critical issues” were decided by elections, rather than by each of us as free individuals. Unfortunately, we’re already too far from our Founding principles. That so much of our lives is already at the mercy of election outcomes is what is “antithetical to the founding principles of this nation.” Eliminating the Electoral College would just pull us further from those principles.

Monaghan and Friesen need to learn about America’s Founding principles. And they need to learn that human rights means individual rights, or they mean tyranny. Nor is governance about ‘the will of the people,” a dangerous Robespierrian term that Monaghan and Friesen use to delegitimize Trump’s presidency. With all of the talk of “safe spaces” on college campuses, of which Monaghan and Friesen are undoubtedly well familiar with, it is noteworthy that the Founding Fathers are responsible for the original safe space--the equal, inalienable rights of all individuals.

Related Reading:

QUORA: ‘Why does the Electoral College of the United States of America exist?’

Voting Rights are Not the ‘Most Fundamental Right’—or Even a Fundamental Right

On This Constitution Day, Remember the Declaration of Independence