Abolish the Electoral College

Stop me if you've heard this one before.

Abolish the Electoral College.

It’s become a common refrain in modern politics, at least among young people and those left-of-center. Even though the topic is unoriginal, the question of how we elect the President of the United States is still important. Additionally, if we ever hope to change our electoral system, we need to change our constitution or at the very least numerous state laws. Such a feat requires a lot of support and therefore lots of justification.

The impetus for a change is obvious; the Electoral College overrules the fundamental concept that whoever has the most support amongst voters should win. Five times in American history, the candidate with the most votes has lost because of the Electoral College. Two of these incidents happened recently—in 2000 and 2016—and we are likely to see similar upsets in the near future due to increased polarization. Instead of electing the person who has the most support among the American people, our current system allows a minority of voters to impose their will on everyone else by a quirk in the rules.