Electoral College safeguards our votes

Team Clinton and its media cheerleaders have now blamed Hillary’s defeat on “angry” working-class white voters, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Wikileaks’ Julian Assange, FBI Director James Comey, President Barack Obama (for not reining in Comey), the minor-party candidates and now voting laws. The 2016 election was freakish for a lot of people, but probably no one feels it more than the Democratic presidential candidate. Members of Congress and employees of the federal government are prohibited from serving as electors. In the event that no candidate has a majority of electoral votes (which is 270), the House, voting by state delegations, chooses the president from among the three highest electoral vote-getters.

Though petitions will most likely not change the outcome of this election, they have revamped discussion about the future of the Electoral College.

The vote marked for the President and Vice-President candidate on the ballot is considered and counted as a vote for the electors of the party.

They’d have to decide soon, because the Electoral College meets in each state capital on December 19 to cast those votes.

The group, called Hamilton Electors, is now accepting unlimited donations form disgruntled Democrats determined not to see Trump get into power.

Consider that nine states have enough population that, with a little help from big cities in a few other states, they can control the popular vote. Twice in the last five presidential elections the popular vote victor lost. Why?

The Electoral College system also tends to limit the need for recounts. If the election were determined by popular vote, Clinton would be our next president.

There are those today who would like to do away with the Electoral College and allow these larger populated states to choose the president because numerous smaller states have a different view of life, policy, tradition, etc.; while numerous larger states have a more liberal view. Hillary Clinton won 52 East and West Coast counties by 8.2 million votes.

In every other presidential election in history, Electoral College members have voted in accordance with their state’s voters, meaning that, in Michigan, Banerian and his fellow electors will cast their votes for Donald Trump. The framers of the U.S. Constitution created the Electoral College as a failsafe against direct democracy, which they did not trust.

Al Gore now believes the Electoral College should be replaced by a national popular vote.

I’ll be honest: My legislation faces an uphill battle, but it is time to change how we elect presidents in this country. Our Founding Fathers had great foresight when it came to the Electoral College. This means that whoever wins one of those states, by even the slimmest margin, gets all of that states electoral votes. The Wisconsin Elections Commission voted unanimously Monday for a recount. After a legal battle, the uncounted votes were eventually awarded to Hayes.