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Show EISSiEPGl GqIIgqg In mid-December there were once again calls for abolition of the electoral college, some by electors themselves, as they named Jimmy Carter the new chief executive of the nation. IT'S TRUE the college is ' obsolete. Electors no longer perform the function envisioned en-visioned for them by the founders of the country. But the electoral system, though thwarting the process of pure democracy, still has its meaning. TO INSURE against big states dominating the federal government excessively, the fathers of this country established es-tablished a Senate with equal representation among the states and a House with proportional representation based on population. The selection of a President was too serious to leave to the masses, who might then not even have known what the candidates stood for. So electors elec-tors were to elect presidents. THEY WERE chosen by the states. That process evolved into people choosing electors (State legislators at one time did), so that presidential elections in America are really indirect affairs. Two features of the system are often criticized. First, since each state has as many electors as it has Senators and Congressmen combined, lesser populated states are slightly favored. SECOND, since electors from a state cast all that state's votes for the winning candidate (in that state), the votes of the losing candidate count for nothing. Pure democracy would t popular nationwide vote wi"' all votes counting, the winne, being the candidate with tht greatest number of popular votes. THAT WOULD end fii? "fed for electors, and flfWX Ij lm-possible lm-possible for a ctUWfl' . win with fewer vow; " . s opponent. There are some safeguards in the old system, which is a republic or confederacy of states system, in reality. SMALL states are protected against steamroller rule and candidates are required to receive a broad vote from many states to win, not just smashing majorities in the big, key states. Congress, for these reasons, has rightly been slow to initiate ini-tiate a constitutional amendment amend-ment to change it. |