In the midst of the intense media frenzy surrounding the Presidential Primaries, a much larger than average number of citizens are engaging in conversations about politics and the political process. One can hardly eat in a restaurant without over hearing a debate on who would make a better president. Campuses are over flowing with people handing out pamphlets for one political party or the other and the debates around the water cooler are heated and deliberate. Although most begin as a debate on “who is cooler” or which candidate will end the war sooner, some portend to go deeper and center on “exercising your Federal duty and God given right to vote.” Others delve in to the subject of efficacy and the continued existence of the Electoral College.
Many people contend that we as American citizens have a God given right to vote and that right is protected and guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States of America.
However, this is not the case. Aside from the fact that I never voted for God, the United States Constitution simply does not guarantee the right of all humans to vote in Federal elections.
Some would argue that the Constitution does grant the right of universal suffrage and will point to four different amendments:
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.— Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (1870) The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.— Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (1920) The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election . . . shall not be denied or abridged . . . by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.— Twenty-fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (1964) The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of age.— Twenty-sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (1971)
While it is true that the issue of voting is covered in the fifteenth, nineteenth, twenty-fourth and the twenty-sixth amendments it was decided by the Supreme Court that these stipulations apply to States who have State Constitutions that guarantee the right to vote in State and local elections on multiple occasions. The
In McPherson v. Blacker (1862) the Supreme Court ruled “The second clause of Article II of the Constitution was not amended by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, and they do not limit the power of appointment to the particular manner pursued at the time of the adoption of these amendments or secure to every male inhabitant of a state, being a citizen of the United States, the right from the time of his majority to vote for presidential electors” In essence, McPherson v. Blacker (1862) defers to the Electoral College to pick the President and states that the inhabitant does not have the right to vote for President.
More recently, in Bush v. Gore (2000) the Supreme Court reiterated “The individual citizen has no federal constitutional right to vote for electors for the President of the United States unless and until the state legislature chooses a statewide election as the means to implement its power to appoint members of the Electoral College.”
These and other rulings are a clear threat to voter efficacy. If the people feel that they have no bearing on the delegates that are selected to represent them in the Electoral College, why should they even vote? The answer is that until an individual participates in the entirety of the political machine they truly have no bearing on the leaders of this Nation. It can be said that until a voter participates at the very base levels of the state government and understands who they are placing in the seats of their State Legislature, they can have no impact. While it is true in some states delegates to the Electoral College are compelled to vote with their states election outcomes, there is no constitutional requirement for the delegates to do so. So yet again, it is possible that the will of the people and efficacy could be threatened.
What then can be done in order to ensure the will of the people and increase efficacy?
Some, such as Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. believe that we need an amendment to the constitution to explicitly grant the right to vote in Federal elections to all citizens. Others contend that such an amendment would be a solid affront to states rights and would dilute the already depleted powers of state governmental bodies resulting in further disenfranchisement of voters.
However, there are others who believe there is a much better way: Abolish the Electoral College and rely on the popular vote.
The origins of electoral colleges are known to predate even the Visigoths when the law of the Germanic tribes dictated that a King must be elected by the court of his nobles. During the founding days of the United States, the Electoral College was still a viable and necessary means of presidential election. The Electoral College simplified the voting process so that it was not necessary for every citizen to travel to the Capitol to vote or to tabulate each and every paper ballot. However, The Electoral College has the undesirable effect of allowing the parties to send members who will vote strictly on party lines and not on what is best for the Population as a whole. A well known example and exercise in this matter was the use of delegates to the Electoral College by the southern states to ensure the question of Slavery was never broached in the early days of the Nation. Simply stated, The Electoral College is no longer required and in fact does the people of America more harm than good. With the advent of high speed travel, electronic media and a more aware voting public, the time has come to amend the constitution not to federally guarantee the right to vote, but to abolish the Electoral College and establish a nomination process based on the will of the people.
While the issue has been raised before, not much has ever come of the motions. Most notably, there was a terrible outcry for the abolishment of the Electoral College after Al Gore won the popular vote, but lost the Presidential election in 2000. In December of 2004, Senator Diane Feinstein proposed the abolishment of the Electoral College; however, her efforts were tabled until recently. In September 2007, Feinstein again began ushering her cries for the abolishment of the Electoral College. However, not much more than lip service had been paid to the effort until March of 2008 when Senator Bill Nelson proposed a new nomination process based on the popular vote.
Call me cynical, but I see the entire issue dissolving in to nothingness within months after the next presidential election. It is our duty as citizens to ensure that it stays in the conversations around our water coolers and in the halls of Congress long after the Election has come and gone.
Some sites with more information on the electoral college.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Electoral_College
http://www.howstuffworks.com/electoral-college.htm
http://uselectionatlas.org/INFORMATION/INFORMATION/electcollege_procon.php
http://www.therestofus.org/electoral_college/FAQs.htm
http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/thepoliticalsystem/a/electoralattack.htm
http://www.petitiononline.com/ctd2000/petition.html
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/sen.-bill-nelson-abolish-electoral-college-2008-03-27.html
Of course, there are those who would argue that by putting too much faith in the hands of a generally uneducated public, we could end up with this guy as president.
Still taken from the movie Idiocracy
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