The Electoral College

With the Presidential Debate scheduled to be held tonight, and the political skit being billed as a debate between Bush and Kerry also scheduled, take time today read about the Electoral College in a well written paper by William C. Kimberling, Deputy Director FEC Office of Election Administration. Included are a brief history, the evolution since the 12th Amendment, historical curiosities and remarkable outcomes and observations about the pro's and con's of the Electoral College. I found of particular interest this argument against:

A second way in which the Electoral College fails to accurately reflect the national popular will stems primarily from the winner-take-all mechanism whereby the presidential candidate who wins the most popular votes in the State wins all the Electoral votes of that State. One effect of this mechanism is to make it extremely difficult for third-party or independent candidates ever to make much of a showing in the Electoral College. If, for example, a third-party or independent candidate were to win the support of even as many as 25% of the voters nationwide, he might still end up with no Electoral College votes at all unless he won a plurality of votes in at least one State. And even if he managed to win a few States, his support elsewhere would not be reflected. By thus failing to accurately reflect the national popular will, the argument goes, the Electoral College reinforces a two-party system, discourages third-party or independent candidates, and thereby tends to restrict choices available to the electorate.

And this argument for:

Proponents further argue that the Electoral College contributes to the political stability of the nation by encouraging a two-party system.

Don't forget to watch coverage of the real Peoples Debate tonight at Free Market News Network starting around 4:30 p.m. EST.