One person, one vote?

The Electoral College is a relic of the past that no longer serves a functional or democratic purpose in modern America. It was originally created to balance power between populous and less-populous states and, frankly, to maintain control by white, landowning elites. While it might have made sense in the late 18th century, when communication and travel were slow, today it serves to undermine the principle of one person, one vote.

In recent elections, we’ve seen how the Electoral College allows candidates to win the presidency despite losing the popular vote. This fundamentally breaks the democratic ideal. Every vote should count equally, but the current system gives disproportionate influence to a handful of swing states, leaving millions of voters in solidly blue or red states feeling like their votes don’t matter.

Another issue is the winner-take-all approach in most states, which means that even if a candidate wins by a slim margin, all of that state’s electoral votes go to the winner. This eliminates representation for the millions of people who voted for the other candidate, silencing their voices.

The Electoral College was also established during a time of slavery, when Southern states wanted to count enslaved people as part of their population to gain more representation in Congress and the Electoral College. While enslaved people had no rights, their numbers boosted the political power of their oppressors, a system that never truly reflected equal representation.

Today, the United States is a global superpower with a much more informed and connected electorate. Technology allows us to communicate, vote, and engage with political processes far more easily than in the past. Yet, we cling to a system that was designed in a different era for different reasons, many of which are no longer relevant or justifiable.

It’s time to abolish the Electoral College and move toward a system that reflects the will of the people. A national popular vote is the clearest path toward a truly representative democracy—where every vote is equal, and the person who wins the most votes is the person who becomes president. The future of our democracy depends on making this necessary change.

Brandy W. Walt, U.S. Presidential Candidate

Humane Party