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Gary Parish
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| The Electoral College: Source of Inequality and Social Injustice in America by Gary Parish |
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• One Person One Vote Myth • Fundamentally Unfair! • See For Yourself! • Social Injustice • Football Analogy • Moral Arguments • EC Cancels Votes • Founding Fathers • Invalid Arguments For EC • States' Rights? • Reform Options • Conclusion • Inequality Maps • EC Cartoons • Postscript:Voting Power • References • Acknowledgements • Action Center • Get Involved • E-mail White House • E-mail Congress • E-mail Newspapers • E-mail Political Parties • E-mail Networks • E-mail Media • Calling Cards • Teaching Notes |
This web page demonstrates that the Electoral College is a primary source of inequality and injustice in the United States. The Electoral College rules governing presidential elections grant
unequal voting power
per voter across the states, giving greater voting power to voters in states with less than average population and less to those with greater than average population. This bias discriminates against half the voters in the United States-regardless of gender, race, ethnic heritage or religion. However, because of the distribution of minority groups to larger states, this bias especially
discriminates against minority populations
compared to the majority white population.
It is shown that a vote in a minority population is generally worth significantly less than a vote in the white population --about 10 percent less for Hispanic, Jewish, and immigrant voters, 6 percent less for African-American voters, and 3 percent less for Asian and Pacific Island voters. The Electoral College rules effectively
disenfranchise millions of minority votes
in every presidential election. Although it was intended to protect minority populations against domination by larger populations, the Electoral College now creates a substantial bias against minority populations.
The Electoral College rules cause unequal treatment of minority voters and constitute a direct violation of the 14th Amendment--the Equal Protection clause--and present a long-standing moral dilemma to the nation and its public servants. The contradiction between the 14th Amendment and the Electoral College allows the law to be used for immoral ends- --discrimination against minority citizens and diminishing their voice in government. The same contradiction detracts from the legitimacy of the President and all Presidential appointments-including those to the Supreme Court. Equally important, the Electoral College alone prevents the United States from full compliance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations which calls for elections by universal and EQUAL suffrage as a basic, unalienable right of all mankind. The flaws in the Electoral College are too serious to be ignored. If Americans are not equal at the ballot box, they are not equal under the law. The consequences of such inequality can be disasterous to a people or a nation. It was because Americans were not treated as equals by the British that we declared our independence from England and created the United States of America. It was the unequal rights of slaves that led to the US Civil war. For these reasons, the Electoral College has become a major source of constitutionally sanctioned inequality and social injustice in the United States. It must be reformed if the United States is to avoid increasing social, political, and minority unrest in the future. The Electoral College biases for and against the larger and smaller states of the United States--and the consequences of these biases--are examined on this web site. The only Electoral College reform options that can eliminate these biases are: 1) the direct election of the president without the encumbrance of the Electoral College and the states; or 2) the House plan --also called the neo-Wilson option--that rremoves the senatorial electors but keeps everything else about the Electoral College intact. Because it involves the minimum change to the Constitution, the House plan is recommended. This web site provides the facts for you to understand the problems caused by the Electoral College and the tools for you to take action. The Constitution must be changed, and only an informed citizenry acting in their own best interests can do it. You must take action now to preserve America and make it a better place for future generations. |
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