Dear Electoral College,
You were created centuries ago, rooted in prejudice and racism, and you have not evolved to fit our current social and political landscape. Your delegates were originally apportioned to the South based on population numbers that included enslaved people who were not given the right to vote, so Southern states and white Southern voters were overrepresented. This imbalance continues today, diluting the voices of minority populations. This makes you a social justice issue. So why do you exist today? Were you not created in a completely different context from today’s society?
I have always looked forward to voting in my first presidential election. I couldn’t wait to make my voice heard and the 2020 election was the first time I could exercise my right to vote. But as I watched the votes come in, I began to wonder if my vote really counted for anything. Since North Carolina was going to be red anyways, I felt like my vote didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. I don’t understand how we can call our system a democracy if every person’s vote doesn’t count. So why do you exist today? Do you not undermine the idea of democracy?
Your all-or-nothing system that gives only a few battleground states the power to determine the results of an election eliminates a large portion of votes from being counted in presidential elections. You cause candidates to focus their policies on what appeals to these battleground states, instead of putting effort into convincing the majority of voters that they are the right choice. You have caused two people in the last two decades to become president after losing the popular vote. So why do you exist today? Do you not give a disproportionate amount of power to a select few states and suppress certain voters while empowering others? In order for the United States to have a true democracy, you cannot exist.
Sincerely, AB