Electoral College, term limits vital

A recent letter from Steve Scott of Sarasota suggested the Electoral College prevents some popular votes from counting. In reality it levels the playing field and prevents a heavily populated state from determining the election. California is where Hillary campaigned and received her celebrity support. Popular votes there accounted for the bulk of her advantage over Mr. Trump. Meanwhile, the vast majority of the rest of America voted in Donald Trumps' favor.

Mr. Scott also points out the Senate has two senators from each state. The House has representatives based on population. This also prevents a few heavily populated states from controlling our government.

If popular votes were to become the national election system, candidates would only need to campaign in California, New York and Illinois. Then votes in the rest of America really would not count. If popular votes determined passage of House and Senate bills, our government would be controlled by a small group of states.

Instead of looking for ways to excuse the fact that Democrats have lost over a 1,000 nationwide offices the past eight years, including the House, Senate and presidency, they should focus on more important issues. Like term limits for senators and representatives. Those positions were never intended to be life-long, wealth-building careers. The president is term limited. The other elected officials should be, too.

This story was originally published January 5, 2017 at 5:02 PM with the headline "Electoral College, term limits vital."