I read an article in USA Today by Trent England titled, “Rural Americans would be serfs if we abolished the Electoral College.” Mr. England is obviously a Republican, and must be fully aware that it is a fact that if the Electoral College did not exist, a Democrat would be in the White House today, and would have been since 1993. The people would have chosen the President of the United States, not a group of men and women no one knows.
Only one Republican president won the popular vote since 1992; George W. Bush. In 2004, a second term he never should have had, was won by a small margin.
Mr. England’s premise is that a national popular vote would harm rural Americans. He is mistaken. One person, one vote is democracy at its finest.
He also made a false claim that Hillary Clinton lost in 2016 because she did not get votes from rural Americans. The fact is that Trump was gifted the Electoral College by three states; Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Less than 70,000 total votes total cost Hillary the presidency.
The facts show that Russia’s manipulation of our election through the use of social media altered the outcome. The expected voter turnout in those three states did not occur. There is little doubt that negative and fallacious comments and statements on social media discouraged voters from going to the polls.
I live in Northern Nevada. In 2000 and 2004 my ballots for President of the United States did not count; Bush won our state’s Electoral Votes by a close margin. It was just as unfair for Republicans in 2016. Hillary won our Electoral Votes, and anyone who voted for Trump was not represented.
The founding fathers considered our right to vote the most important guarantee in the Constitution. It should be used fairly; one person one vote.
Tell everyone; “The Truth Lives Here.”
Op-ed by James Turnage
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Image courtesy of DonkeyHotey
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