2008 Woodie Awards
Professor predicts Electoral College's demise
By David Lazo
Issue date: 10/31/08 Section: News
Originally published: 10/30/08 at 4:39 PM CSTLast update: 10/31/08 at 8:59 AM CST
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Asslan Khaligh expressed concern over the ways votes are tallied in the presidential election.
The Electoral College was established by the founding fathers as a compromise between election of the president by Congress and election by popular vote. The people of the United States vote for the electors who then vote for the president, according to the National Archives and Records Administration Web site.
In 20 or 30 years, Khaligh believes that the Electoral College system will end because of the growing minority vote that will eventually become the majority.
"Thirty years from now, the minorities of women, Hispanics and African-Americans will become the majority by percentage, and thus will establish the need for every vote to count and will end the Electoral College system," Khaligh said.
John Feagins, director of the Methodist Student Center, agrees that eventually the Electoral College system will end by the minority vote and that ultimately Texas' long-running Republican majority will change.
"When Texas is 51 percent Democratic Hispanics, then they will change," Feagins said. "In 2030, census figures show that 50 percent of the vote will be from minorities. When this happens, it will be a dramatic and instant change. There will be more nonminorities being swayed to change Texas into a blue state."
Khaligh believes the creators of the United States government tried to create a new system by giving people an opportunity to vote. He also thinks that the forefathers of this country did not believe that every person was equal.
"We as a people believe in one man, one vote, but that was not what the founding fathers believed," Khaligh said.
Khaligh believes that majority versus minority was the main issue and that it was initially thought that people should be indirectly involved in the presidential election.
"The scariest word in politics is majority," Khaligh said. "With a majority rule, the minority people's vote has no significance in the Electoral College system."
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Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
The Octagon
posted 10/30/08 @ 6:49 PM CST
One, women are not considered a minority in the United States. You are demonizing women in this article by making them a minority, sub-citizens.
susan
posted 10/31/08 @ 7:03 PM CST
The National Popular Vote bill would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and DC).
Every vote would be politically relevant and equal in presidential elections. (Continued…)
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