The following piece is an opinion and does not reflect the views of The Eagle and its staff. All opinions are edited for grammar, style and argument structure and fact-checked, but the opinions are the writer’s own.
Bucks County, Pennsylvania, is not just another municipality in the 2024 Presidential Election but one of the last purple counties in an overwhelmingly purple state (a purple county or state is an area with similar levels of support for the Democratic and Republican parties among voters). As a Bucks County resident, my vote has much greater power than votes in neighboring counties or states. Living in such a politically essential and contested area has placed me in a microcosm for the larger political climate of the state and country. I’m left with one major, undeniable takeaway — the Electoral College is immensely unfair. As a campus of highly politically engaged students, it is essential to address the inequalities of the current Electoral College system and push for change and true representation.
In the 2020 presidential election, President Joe Biden’s victory was secured largely by his win in Pennsylvania. Bucks County, again, played a pivotal role in this victory. This fact is one of which my fellow residents and I are well aware. In 2020, the county saw voter turnout levels of over 80 percent as Biden secured his win by a margin of less than 4.5 percent. However, presidential elections should not be secured by just one state much less by one county. My home county of 650,000 should not decide the chief executive for 340 million. However, the chances of such an occurrence are high, which is incredibly unfair to millions of American voters.
In theory, the Electoral College provides stability to elections as it requires multiple criteria for victory. It also, theoretically, prevents candidates from only campaigning in the largest states. However, even though there are more votes to be won in, say, Texas compared to Nevada, as a swing state, Nevada’s 3 million residents receive much more campaigning and outreach efforts than Texas’ 30 million residents, who have ensured a Republican presidential victory in the state since 1980.
The intended strength of the Electoral College has become its weakness. As it attempts to bring fair representation to all, in reality, it has created a deep power imbalance. It is predicted that merely seven states will decide the election. When the framers set out to design the Electoral College, they did so in hopes that it would increase representation within government — it is proving to do the opposite.
One of the most profound failures of the Electoral College in recent history is the 2016 Presidential Election. As Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by almost 3 million but lost the election, outrage for the Electoral College among voters was high. In the eight years since, anti-Electoral College sentiment has lingered as polls from each year show a majority of voters continually opposing the current system, with current levels of opposition at nearly 65 percent.
As American politics become increasingly polarized, disdain for the Electoral College will only grow. Elections are no longer about two candidates with policy differences on how to run the country; today's candidates have harsh ideological differences that manifest in drastically different realities. Issues like reproductive freedom mangle political consensus, legislation and even human lives. These stakes capture voter attention — stakes that an unfair Electoral College is unfit to handle.
In such a politically polarized nation, the need for a truly representative and equal system in electing the president is needed — the Electoral College no longer fulfills that need. American voters are well aware of the high-stakes, polarizing race for the presidency. They are also well aware of the Electoral College’s grave inadequacies. As the election plays out, the demise of the Electoral College will likely proliferate. As Americans perform our civic duty at the ballot box, all votes will not be created equal.
Addie DiPaolo is a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs and a columnist for The Eagle.
This article was edited by Alana Parker, Rebeca Samano Arellano and Abigail Turner. Copy editing done by Luna Jinks.
