Lance Bernard: Most populous states shouldn’t get final say on who is president

I am sick and tired of listening to all this grousing about the Electoral College system for electing a president. Anyone with an ounce of political acumen should recognize the genius of our founding fathers in devising the system used today. Take a look at the electoral map from the 2016 election. What we see are blue states on the west coast dominated by California and blue states in New England dominated by New York, with almost everything in between being red states.

But the culture of the most populous areas and the culture of the heartland are entirely different. If we were to elect presidents by popular vote almost everyone not living on the west coast or in New England would effectively be disenfranchised and have no voice in their future.

People also need to understand that a state’s electoral votes aren’t static but rather are fluid and change over time. We’ve had major changes throughout our history when newly eligible voters were added to the roles, first former slaves then women and then 18-year-olds. Those changes will continue as populations shift, and so the electoral system will always represent the broad consensus of all Americans.

This story was originally published December 12, 2016 at 5:38 PM with the headline "Lance Bernard: Most populous states shouldn’t get final say on who is president."