Why do reformers propose abolishing the Electoral College?
Reformers argue that the Electoral College hampers democracy in a manner inconsistent with modern American practices. All votes are not counted equally under the Electoral College. Under our admittedly complex and convoluted system, a single vote for president in the State of Wyoming, for instance, counts for more than a single vote in California. Tiny Wyoming has an inflated number of electoral votes–three–because every state is awarded a minimum of three (one for its member of Congress and two for each senator). California, with a population over fifty times as large as Wyoming, has only a little more than eighteen times as many electoral votes. This means that a vote in Wyoming counts about three times more than a vote in California. An additional argument is made by George C. Edwards in Why the Electoral College Is Bad for America (Yale University Press, 2004). He points out that nearly two dozen elections were so closely decided that they could have ended up in the House of Repr
