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# Readers split over the Electoral College
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/readers-split-over-the-electoral-college/
- Published: 2004-10-30T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T05:22:02.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Education, Santa Monica, #archive-import

This past week, Q-line asked: “Do you agree with the electoral college vote system? Why or why not?” Here are your responses: ✆ “Today, Americans all have access to Internet, all the information, they can all get the same information, so the electoral college is an anachronism. Even if Bush had won every vote in Florida that he’d claimed he did, he’d still lost the popular vote by over half a million people, so you’re telling those half a million people they don’t mean a dang thing. So it would be a wonderfully ironic if Kerry wins the electoral vote and Bush wins the popular vote. Only then would you see those hypocrite Republicans trying to abolish the electoral college system. As it is, we have a defective president, because we have a defective system.” ✆ “I agree with the electoral college vote system. It was ingeniously designed by our country’s founders who were much wiser men than our current leaders today. To compel presidential candidates to consider the interests of each of our United States separately, rather than to cater to the preferences of a nation’s citizenry en masse. This device serves a similar, important function to that which accords each state regardless of population size, two senators in congress. We are the United States of America, not the United Voters of America, and our president is the President of the United States of America.” ✆ “I do not agree with the electoral college vote system. It just serves the few who can’t obtain the majority of the votes from the American people. If this system had been terminated years ago, we would not be in the present mess. Bush, our mentally-retarded president, and Cheney, our foul-mouthed vice president, would still be checking their oil wells. All the oil in Iraq is not worth the life of one American soldier. And now we have lost over 1,000 soldiers because of these two fools. I was asked recently why I don’t watch the president on TV, for a different perspective. I told the gentleman, as the old saying goes, ‘You can watch a thief, but you can’t watch a liar,’ so I never watch either one of them.” ✆ “Unfortunately, I have to agree with it. Because, if the electoral college vote system were abolished, and we went to a straight popular vote across the country, it would seem that the Democratic Party and particularly in California, would have the upper hand in national elections. For those who would be considered for the presidency of this country. By simply the plurality of the Democrats who are registered in California, the same thing could hold true in some other states that may be popular states, and it seems that the Republicans would never hold office again on a national level — the presidency, that is — if the electoral college vote system were abolished.” ✆ “We should have gotten rid of the electoral college after the sad events in the year 2000\. I think it should be the popular vote, period. The people of this country are informed, and they know who they want to vote for. And I don’t know who these electoral college people are, I mean, it’s ridiculous. It should be popular vote, period.” ✆ “In the presidential elections of 1824, 1876, 1888 and 2000, the candidates with the most votes were denied office due to the electoral college voting system. That doesn’t make sense if you believe in fair representative elections where one man, one vote, rules.” ✆ “I do not agree with the electoral college vote system. My first point is, I don’t even think most Americans even understand the electoral college vote system. I think when it was first enacted by the founding fathers, it was due to a lack of education by the citizens of this country, I think since then we’ve come a long way, and I think most people are smart enough to understand what’s going on in our political system, so, it’s a system that should be abolished. And my final point is that I don’t agree that Bush will win the electoral college, I actually think it’s going to be the other way around, I think Bush will win the popular vote, and Kerry will win the electoral college and hopefully be the next president of the United States.” ✆ “We should end the electoral college. Why? Because the electoral college was put in (during) a time when basically women and minorities could not vote, it’s a very dated, elitist procedure, Hillary Clinton agrees with it that it should (be abolished). I think she was working on something to get rid of it, one of the reasons we had the big problem in the 2000 election was because of the electoral college, and we had a person, Gore, who had half a million more votes than Bush, and he was not elected, it’s happened before in our past. And we would have a more democratic election if we did that, so I think that we should end the electoral college and the only reason we should have electoral college is if we ever had a tie vote, it could be a tie-breaker. But other than that we should do it strictly popular vote, rank voting.” ✆ “The electoral college vote and the popular vote are much the same due to the largest states having both the majority of popular vote and electoral college vote. Still the small states’ electoral college votes are needed for the majority of 270 college votes. In the elections of 1876, 1888 and 2000, the candidate with the most popular vote did not win due to not carrying the states which they needed 270 college votes. The electoral college is a good system and gives each state, regardless of size, a say in the election.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 30, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/103004.pdf?ref=smdp.com)