Why our founders gave us the electoral college

Why our founders gave us the electoral college

“The ordaining of laws in favor of one part of the nation, to the prejudice and oppression of another, is certainly the most erroneous and mistaken policy. An equal dispensation of protection, rights, privileges, and advantages, is what every part is entitled to, and ought to enjoy.” —Benjamin Franklin on Electoral College

President Trump, I was disheartened to hear you say that we should do away with the electoral college when you wouldn’t have won the election, despite millions of illegal’s voting for Hillary, had we not been given the college by our founders. What those wonderful and brilliant statesmen gave us is crucial to preserve freedom and preventing a tyrant from getting elected. These are some of the important reasons the founders gave us the electoral college! Please refresh yourself on this important part of our Constitution which has kept us from mob rule since 1787.

Although the preamble to the Constitution begins with “We the people,” the word “democracy” (mob rule) is not mentioned in the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution, or the Bill of Rights. Even the Pledge of Allegiance is “to the Republic for which it stands.” We are supposed to be a nation of laws, “rule of law” rather than “mob rule.” Read on…

Creation of the Electoral College

The Electoral College was created for two reasons.

The first purpose was to create a buffer between population centers and the rest of the country.

The second, as part of the structure of the government that gave smaller less populated states a voice in the selection of President.

Without the electoral college giving a voice to the smaller states, the large populated areas (as those on both coasts) would always elect the president. Today, those areas are heavily populated with welfare recipients, sanctuary cities, and we cannot discount illegal alien voters, who vote largely democratic for the free stuff they receive from the federal government. The electoral college is a buffer that allows all states to have a voice.

America is a Constitutional Republic Based on Laws

One of the inherent weaknesses in a government based ONLY on the will of the people is the potential for mob rule. This was often the downfall of direct democracies, where all the people decided on public matters directly rather than through representatives. We were created as a representative Republic, NOT A DEMOCRACY! In designing the electoral college, the founders sought to insulate the selection of president from the convulsions of the multitudes. The college was essentially an extra layer of security helping to guarantee that the president would be a truly capable individual.

Upon exiting the Constitutional Convention Benjamin Franklin was approached by a group of citizens asking what sort of government the delegates had created. His answer was: “A republic, if you can keep it.”

In creating the basic architecture of the American government, the Founders struggled to satisfy each state’s demand for greater representation while attempting to balance popular sovereignty against the risk posed to the minority from majoritarian rule from larger population states.

Our Constitution clarifies the Electoral College in Article 2, Section 1, Clause 2, and in part states:

Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.

The product of the Founders’ compromise has been well balanced and enduring, and we would be wise to leave it intact, despite what Soros and the Democrats would like to do to it.

The First Reason for the College

The first reason that the founders created the Electoral College may be difficult to understand today. The founding fathers were afraid of direct election to the Presidency. They feared a tyrant could manipulate public opinion and come to power. Alexander Hamilton wrote about it in the Federalist papers. I know they were right!

(See All of the Federalist 68)

Hamilton defends the process for selecting the president. He argues that the system of an electoral college ensures that “the sense of the people” will play a key role in selecting the president, while, at the same time, affording “as little opportunity as possible to tumult and disorder.” It was believed that electing the president directly, without the intermediate step of the electors, might lead to instability. Hamilton argues that electors will be protected from bias since they do not hold any other political office and are separated from electors from other states. Hamilton believed that this system would best ensure that the president was a man of great virtue and ability, which has not always been the case, but has undoubtedly kept us somewhat protected.

They believed that with the Electoral College no one would be able to manipulate the citizenry. It would act as check on an electorate that might be duped. Hamilton and the other founders did not trust the population to make the right choice. (We have seen this many times in the past, which proved our founders right, and they didn’t have radio or television influence in the late 1700s.)

The founders also believed that the Electoral College had the advantage of being a group that met only once and thus could not be manipulated over time by foreign governments or others. Brilliant men of letters, oh how I wish they were here today!

The Second Reason for the College

The electoral college is also part of compromises made at the 1787 Convention to satisfy the small states. The United States Constitution was made by and for the states, and the founders wanted each state to have a voice in elections.

Under the system of the Electoral College each state had the same number of electoral votes as they have senators and representatives in Congress, thus no state could have less than three.

Again, the Electoral College system was drafted by the states to empower the states, so as to preserve regional identity and protect small states from the domination of the larger ones.

The Daily Caller states it even better than I ever could:

The Founders understood that democracy was important, but they knew that if it wasn’t tempered by a republican system, majority rule could lead to tyranny. Thomas Jefferson wisely admonished future generations of voters that, “Measures are too often decided, not according to the rights of the minor party, but by the superior force of an overbearing majority.”

Although the Framers guaranteed a “Republican form of government” to the states (Article 4, Section 4), the rights of states are under attack. Their jurisdiction in issues ranging from the death penalty to healthcare standards to the regulation of firearms have become subject to federal mandates. Presidents swear an oath to “preserve and protect the Constitution,” and that must include a firewall to shield our republic from the deception of “democratic” national elections.

Conclusion

The founders of America’s Republic, the authors of our Constitution, were men not only of letters, but of bravery and fortitude who gave us a document like no other document ever given to any nation. We need the electoral college, the inclusion of same in our Constitution was a brilliant addition. God certainly must have given those men a vision of our future for this measure to have been added to protect us.

These men were undoubtedly led by God to preserve the freedoms and liberties they fought to attain. May the Good Lord above help us to do the same, and may our new president take time to study the American Constitution he will soon take an oath to preserve, protect, and defend.

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© 2016 Kelleigh Nelson – All Rights Reserved