Electoral College not to blame for undesired election results

As ugly and undignified as the campaigns of the past election season were, we must now come together to advance our country’s best interests.

A bigger picture is at stake: the current state and future trajectory of our nation and its collective people. This reality is much more important than partisan politics will
ever be.

We must always remember that we are one nation of many and we mustn’t dispose with the founding principles that have made this country so great in the first place. While we don’t always have to agree with one another, it’s absolutely imperative that each of us remembers the characteristics that already make this country the greatest in the history of the world.

If we are to sustain the global prominence that we have so consistently bolstered, for the goodness of the world, as a beacon of freedom and prosperity for others to strive to exemplify, then we must frequently remind ourselves of our origin and the things that have gotten us this far.

Take, for instance, the system in which we indirectly elect our president: the Electoral College. After the results of the election, instead of retrospectively regretting their decision to abstain, many individuals have proposed completely voiding the Electoral College system and altering our country to becoming a direct democracy. Yet this system has a defined purpose and was established for a number of relevant reasons.

America was founded as and remains a constitutional republic, bounded by a founding document and steered by the people through a small elected body of representatives.

Those who suddenly wish to alter the ingenious system we have in this country – a system which has proven relatively successful at electing presidents for more than 200 years – are doing so out of rash animosity over the results of a single election.

This sort of impulsive, hasty reaction is thoughtless and can fundamentally destroy a great nation.

Many individuals believe that states in the Midwest carry too much weight in presidential elections. Conversely, residents of those states would laugh at such a claim. While California receives 55 electoral votes, South Dakota receives only three. But this is the way it was meant to be – based upon representative population.

If a pure popular vote were enacted instead of the current Electoral College system, states like South Dakota would utterly pale in comparison to the few metropolitan areas of the country. In fact, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Population Estimates Program, the 2013 population of Los Angeles County alone was roughly 12 times larger than the entire state of South Dakota.

A pure popular vote for president would alter the very identity of our country through the policies that would begin to take priority. The agriculture and manufacturing industries are the nucleus of America’s identity. This country exists on a continent with some of the most abundant natural resources on the globe.

So, if you’re unhappy with the results of this election cycle, become more involved in the process, get active, perhaps vote next election if you didn’t, but do not threaten to upend the system that has treated us all with relative prosperity, longevity and global prominence for the good of the world. Such a result would jeopardize more than is fathomable.

Chancellor is a member of College Republicans.