Recent events have taken me back to four years ago when I believed the most serious issue facing our country was eliminating the electoral college. We claim to be the world’s greatest democracy. Yet in the last twenty years two winners of the popular vote, by margins measured in the millions, were not elected President because the unelected Electoral College chooses our President, ostensibly to increase the representation of rural parts of the country. If this is fair and just, why not set up an electoral college within each state for all elections? I’ve never heard anyone demand an electoral college system for our Legislature to distribute more power to less densely populated areas of Alaska, and we are perfectly comfortable allowing for an equal say when it comes to voting for our Governor and members of Congress. Would eliminating the electoral college diminish the power of rural states? Arguably, but I am less worried about more populated states significantly decreasing support for Alaska, than I am about a gerrymandered electoral college, easily manipulated by international social media, deciding who runs our country. Eliminating the electoral college would also go a long way to finally enfranchising minority populations, who under our Constitution are supposed to have equal rights. Liberty and justice for all, we vow when we recite the Pledge of Allegiance. This has never been our truth. If we really want to live in a democracy, we must support one person – one vote – all equal.
Gershon Cohen