Electoral College vital for rural America

I recently fell into a conversation with a friend-of-a-friend on social media who was agitating for a popular vote in national elections. I can appreciate the frustrations of Democrats in Nebraska (particularly those in the 3rd District), but I’m always amazed when I hear a Nebraskan criticize the Electoral College. In the case that you encounter such a person, I thought it might be a good idea to review a few issues. Those of you who didn’t sleep through seventh-grade civics can skip the next few paragraphs, but here are a few facts to support the issue.

Remember that when the Constitution was written, the bigger states wanted proportional congressional representation and the smaller states wanted equal congressional representation. The issue was solved with a compromise (a word seldom heard anymore) that resulted in a congress that was comprised of two houses. One was based on population and the other on two senators per state regardless of size.

When I was a kid, I was taught that the Electoral College was put in place because the founders didn’t trust a vote by direct democracy. I suppose some of that is true, but that’s only part of the story. The structure of the Electoral College was driven more by a distrust of an executive branch in a federal republic. The number of electors in each state reflects the same number of representatives in Congress, which follows the population compromise, but Article Two makes it very clear that each state decides how those electors are chosen.

Fans of the popular vote should also note that the Electoral College only applies to the executive branch. All other contests down the ballot (Senate, House, state and local offices) are conducted by popular vote. It’s only a matter of balance between the states for the executive office.

In fact, Nebraska is one of only two states (the other being Maine) that are not winner-take-all systems. In 1991, we apportioned our Electoral College votes by congressional district, and in the most recent election, the 2nd District vote (Omaha) went to Joe Biden. It is indeed our popular vote that directs the vote of the Electoral College.

With only five votes, Nebraska doesn’t exactly suck up all of the air out of the room. Texas has 38. New York and Florida each have 29. Pennsylvania has 20 and California has 55. We have five. That leaves us a bit weak. Republicans take us for granted and Democrats see us as a lost cause. The system works for most of the people most of the time, but it’s not perfect.

Having said all of that, let’s look at how things would go if we didn’t have the Electoral College and relied strictly on a popular vote. Nebraska has a population of less than two million people. At eight million people, New York City has four times the population of our entire state. If we look at the entire New York City metropolitan service area, that becomes 18 million.

The population of Los Angeles County is 10 million, which ranks one county alone as higher in population than at least 40 of our 50 states. The latest number is actually 43. The cities of Chicago and Houston also have populations greater than Nebraska.

I have nothing against cities. I was once a city guy myself, but from that experience, I know that city folk and those of us in Southwest Nebraska have very different needs and interests. They know as much about the Farm Bill and rural school districts as we do about skyscrapers and subway systems. The Second Amendment raises further differences. Having now been a Nebraska resident for more than 25 years, I would not want to cede complete control to urban areas and a move to a popular vote would be a huge mistake.