One of the more worrisome features of this election is that, of our last three presidents, two will have moved into the White House without having won the majority of the popular vote.
And given today’s partisan political climate, we could soon find ourselves even more polarized by the fact that a president who won a minority of the popular vote will be voted into office by the Electoral College - a system designed in the 1780’s by our nation’s founders to address the belief that regular Americans spread over a vast continent might lack the information and intelligence to properly choose among candidates.
By the election of 1800, political parties were taking shape. Led that year by Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, they provided greater clarity to a candidate’s proposed programs and positions. But problems with the election resulted in the proposal of the 12th amendment, clarifying the role of electors for both President and Vice-President - and providing a role for the House of Representatives as tie-breaker.
Arguments flared. Many favored direct popular election, but the electoral system remained in place, driven in part by James Madison’s argument that the South would face a disadvantage with direct elections, since more than 500,000 of its residents were slaves who couldn’t vote, of course, but should still be factored into political representation.
So the electoral system was a response to a call by slave holding states, who then earned more electoral votes – and more representatives in Congress - by counting in their populations each non-voting slave as three-fifths of a person.
So, the southern white voter’s influence grew, thanks to the south’s non-voting slave population.
In the election of 1800, Pennsylvania had 10% more free men than Virginia. But Virginia had many more slaves - and received 20% more electoral votes. No surprise, then, that for 32 of this nation’s first 36 years, a white slaveholding Virginian held the presidency.
A perverse logic settled in - if a slave state were to free its slaves, they could move north, meaning the state would lose electoral votes and Congressional clout.
The North mostly gave in to the South on these skewed issues of representation - despite frequent protest.
Maybe it’s time to re-visit this basis for our electoral college – and do what many other nations already practice: the direct election of our leaders.
