Electoral College key to fair representation

In a recent letter, a political science professor indicated that the Electoral College was obsolete and should be eliminated in a democracy. This is incorrect!

The founders of this country realized that if a plurality of votes was the only requirement in an election, those parts of the country which were sparsely populated would have no say in an election. The election would be decided by the area with the largest population. At that time probably Philadelphia.

That being the case, why have countrywide election at all? Just poll those in the city and get their preference.

This, of course, was decidedly unfair especially in a constitutional republic (not a democracy as the previous writer stated). This continues to hold true.

If the recent election is examined, one can see that the largest area of the country voted Republican. It was only in the large cities that the largest vote was Democrat. This might well be a large enough plurality to take the popular vote by numbers but certainly not by area (which, again, was the original reason for the Electoral College).

If only the plurality of votes is used, there is really no reason at all to have an election! Since the large city votes are always for the Democrat, just appoint the Democrat running for office as the winner.

An opinion as to why the large cities always vote Democrat: That is where the majority of the people demanding handouts reside and that results in a vote for the Democrat.

This story was originally published November 30, 2016 at 3:01 PM with the headline "Electoral College key to fair representation."