It's Time to Ditch the Electoral College

Hunter Thornsberry

3/8/25

The most frustrating problems are often the ones you have no control over.

The Electoral College, established in 1787, is a prime example. It was created not to reflect democratic ideas, but to appease slaveholding states by giving them more influence than they would have under a direct popular vote. When many assume the system was designed to protect fairness, in reality, it was built to preserve power for a privileged few. 

History

From the start, the Electoral College caused major issues, especially in the elections of 1796 and 1800. In the 1796 election, it gave the U.S. a President and Vice President from opposing political parties, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, creating constant conflict.  Then, in 1800, Jefferson and his running mate, Aaron Burr, tied in electoral votes, throwing the decision to the House of Representatives and nearly causing a constitutional crisis. These early failures made it clear the system wasn’t suited for a two-party democracy and led to the 12th Amendment just four years later.

The Electoral College Today

Today, the Electoral College continues to distort democracy in ways that undermine public trust. Most states reliably vote for one party, and presidential elections often come down to just a few swing states, leaving hundreds of millions of voters in “safe” states effectively ignored. Candidates focus their time and policies on these battlegrounds, while the rest of the country is sidelined and discouraged from voting. 

The system also opens the door to chaos through “faithless electors,” individuals who can technically vote against the will of their state's voters, which has happened approximately 165 times in American history. Worst of all, the Electoral College has enabled presidents to win the White House despite losing the popular vote. Five U.S. presidents have been elected even though more Americans voted for someone else. These outcomes fuel the division we see today and raise serious questions about the fairness and legitimacy of our elections.

A Solution to the Problem

A fairer, more democratic solution is to replace the Electoral College with a national ranked-choice voting system. Ranked-choice allows voters to rank candidates by preference, ensuring that the eventual winner has true majority support, not just a narrow electoral advantage. It reduces the “spoiler effect,” encourages more civil campaigning, and gives independent or third-party candidates a real chance without being dismissed as wasted votes. Most importantly, it would make every vote count equally, no matter where you live, finally aligning our presidential elections with the democratic values we claim to uphold. 

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The Electoral College may have served a purpose in the time of our Founders, but that era is long gone. In the 235+ years since, America’s population has grown more than 85 times its original size, from under 4 million to over 340 million. We’ve expanded from 13 states to 50 and transformed from a nation of landowning white men to a diverse, multiracial democracy. And yet, we still rely on a system designed for a smaller, less representative country, one that warps elections, sidelines millions of voters, and holds our democracy back from evolving into what it should be.

It's time to take action.

Sources:

The Guardian

Vox

Campaign Legal Center