Weekly Opinion Editorial
FAIR VOTE ISN’T FAIR!
by Steve Fair
In 1966, I was in
the eighth grade, in Civics class our teacher presented why the founders of America had
used the ‘electoral college’ as a mechanism to elect the president. He carefully explained the Electoral College concept
was not one of the three original proposals of the founders to elect the POTUS.
The founders
rejected having the president selected by Congress or by the state legislatures;
because they believed it would have created an oligarchy- a form
of power structure in which power effectively rests with a small number of
people. They also rejected electing the president by ‘popular vote,’
because they believed the larger more populous States would have too much
influence over the government. They
referred the issue to a committee of eleven who came up with the Electoral
College concept.
The reason they
choose this method of indirectly electing the president was for two very important
reasons. First, they wanted to reinforce the concept America was a republic and not a
pure democracy. By indirectly electing
the president, the ‘representative’ form of government became reality. Second,
they wanted to give the smaller, less populous States a slightly greater voice,
proportionally speaking in their government, which the Electoral College does.
For example, California is the largest State
in population and their electors represent significantly more population than
electors in Wyoming,
the smallest State. It was a question of states rights. Individual states were given power, not
individual voters, again reinforcing the republic form of government.
The concept
seemed to be clear to all of us in the eighth grade civics class and the
teacher marveled at the wisdom of the founders.
They understood we were the United STATES of America, he
said. They rejected what he called ‘mob
rule’ or a true democracy. It appears
some Americans were asleep in their eighth grade civics class.
The Electoral
College has been under attack for years by various groups. Because the concept is not taught like it
once was in school, most Americans don’t understand the Electoral College. That has given rise to groups who advocate
our abandoning the Electoral College and elect the president by popular
vote.
One such group is FairVote, whose Chairman Krist
Novoselic is one of the founding members of the rock bank Nirvana. FairVote also wants to establish what they
describe as ‘proportional representation’ for electing members of
Congress. They want to abolish the congressional
district lines and allow Representatives to be elected ‘at large.’ FairVote is holding a conference in Miami Beach this week with six members of the Oklahoma legislature in
attendance. If this group can get the
attention of legislators from conservative Oklahoma, can a National Popular Vote or
Proportional Representation bill in the Sooner state be far behind?
Why should Oklahoma citizens be
concerned about FairVote?
First, if the president were elected by
popular vote, Oklahoma
would lose. We currently get little
or no attention in a presidential race, but in the Electoral College, we have a
disproportional amount of influence in the process. If the president were elected by popular
vote, nominees would only concentrate their efforts on large population
centers. If you think Oklahoma is a fly over state now, wait until the president is elected by popular vote.
Second, these concepts are the European
model for electing political leaders.
Europe has nothing we need in America. Europe has
out of control government spending, low worker productivity, citizen discontent
and their governments are disintegrating before our very eyes. Wealth redistribution hasn’t worked out in Europe and will not work here. Our founders established a ‘REPUBLIC,’ form
of government, far superior to a Democracy. Citizens of Europe would happily exchange their government for ours.
Third, Proportional Representation violates
the concept of a representative form of government. The current system requires a Congressman to represent
a specific geographic area with a specific population. They must be aware of how issues will impact
their specific district. By blurring the
lines, a ‘federalist’ mindset is established and government is removed from the
intents of our founders. If you think
your representatives to the U.S. Congress don’t listen to you now, wait until
you go to proportional representation.
FairVote is NOT a fair concept. If left unopposed, it will move America toward federalism. Call your Oklahoma state senators and representatives
today and tell them to oppose the National Popular Vote and Proportional
Representation proposals.
For more information on FAIRVOTE, go to http://www.fairvote.org/.
