A recent letter regarding the Electoral College did not explain why our founders thought it necessary to create that institution within our Constitution. Let me offer the following:
Our country is not a democracy; we are a constitutional republic. In a pure democracy, the majority might decide they want your car or your property, and the majority could vote to just take it. In a constitutional republic, your property is yours and you do not owe it to anyone. It cannot be taken against your will by the tyranny vote of a majority. Our Constitution is the law by which we are supposed to be protected from actions of an out-of-control majority.
This is the same protection given to our smaller states. Because of the college, states with large populations can’t ride roughshod over the desires of less-populated states.
In our republic, the individual is protected from the majority by Constitutional law. A constitutional republic is what our founders gave us, and it is up to us to protect and keep it functioning as designed.
John Branthoover
Arlington
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