(Letter to the Editor - Photo Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

Many readers of this newspaper don’t realize the importance of the Electoral College concept on the ratification of our U.S. Constitution by the original 13 states. Here is a brief, simplified history lesson:

Meeting in what is now Independence Hall in Philadelphia, from May 25 to Sept. 17, 1787, a small group of delegates from the 13 original states met to form “a more perfect union” and became our nation’s founding fathers. The delegates from the smaller populated states wanted an equal number of representatives as the larger populated states. Delegates from the larger states wanted a larger number of representatives based on their larger populations.

Therefore, the delegates wrote into the Constitution, a novel compromise. Whereas, in the upper chamber, the Senate, each state, regardless of their population, receives two representatives, in the lower chamber of the House, each state receives a number of representatives, based on their populations. A compromise the big and small states agreed upon.

Were the president elected by popular vote, the smaller populated states would have no voice in who was elected president. Thus, these delegates wrote into the constitution another compromise, in which each state receives a number of electors, equal to the combined number of senators and representatives they have in Congress. Therefore, a number of smaller populated states could counter the advantage of a larger populated state.

The winner of the electoral vote is generally the winner of the popular vote, but not always. This has happened five times in our nation’s history. The last time was in 2016 when Donald Trump won the presidency over Hillary Clinton although she won the popular vote.

Without the Electoral College concept written into the Constitution, the smaller populated states would never have ratified the Constitution and the U.S. as we know it today, might never have come into existence. The Electoral College system has worked well for almost 250 years and doesn’t need changed.

President Trump has called for a new census before the 2026 election because the 2020 census was skewed by several “blue” states counting illegal immigrants as residents and by a mathematical error giving the Democrats at least 16 more seats in the House, which should have been “blue” state Republican seats.

A new census is required at least every ten years. Whether Trump will receive a new “fair” census may be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Steve Wolverton

Parkersburg