Letter: Time to revisit the outdated Electoral College

I find the debate of the value of the Electoral College timely, and hope we revisit this outdated process.

Advocates of the Electoral College say that the Founding Fathers envisioned it to give small rural states an equal voice. Detractors note that a popular vote might be a more valid metric today, given the process disproportionately favors smaller rural states.

Take Wyoming. With one House representative and two senators, it gets three votes. California, with 53 representatives and two senators, gets 55. Wyoming now has three times more power in the Electoral College than its respective population. Specifically, a population comparison notes that Wyoming has fewer residents than the average California congressional district these days. In fact, if that same Wyoming calculus is applied to California, they should actually require 159 Electoral College votes.

Our country’s demographic makeup of income, subsidies and population distribution have dramatically changed from the vision of Jefferson’s rural America, which was self-sufficient and needing adequate representation.

One can expect that our election process will continue to be highly controversial. Perhaps it’s time for our nation to revisit it, for one that more equally represents the voices of all the people in a more transparent way.

This story was originally published December 11, 2016 at 4:04 AM with the headline "Letter: Time to revisit the outdated Electoral College."