Our Back Pages / November 28, 2024

A 150-Year Critique of the Electoral College

As far back as the 1870s, The Nation opposed the existence of the Electoral College as “so grotesque as to be almost ludicrous.”

Richard Kreitner

One of the many mysteries that future historians will have to try to explain as they mull what exactly befell the American Republic in the first quarter of this century is our failure to dismantle the decrepit piece of constitutional machinery known, bizarrely, as the Electoral College. Twice already, in 2000 and in 2016, a president was elected despite losing the popular vote—in the latter case, by nearly 3 million ballots. In 2020, the incredibly slow, needlessly complicated tallying of Electoral College votes left an opening for the defeated incumbent to launch an attempted coup d’état. The fact that this year’s gruesome election results spared us such a fiasco is a mighty slim silver lining.

As befuddled as future historians will be, Americans of the past would likewise be horrified to learn we let things go on this long. The Nation has opposed the Electoral College since at least 1876, when competing voter-fraud claims after the heated presidential contest between Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel Tilden stalled the Electoral College count—and almost led to a second civil war. (Eventually, the crisis ended with a compromise that handed the victory to Hayes, a Republican, in exchange for his agreeing to sacrifice what remained of Reconstruction in the South.)

As the crisis unfolded, The Nation took aim, in an editorial, at the Electoral College. Its continued existence was “so grotesque as to be almost ludicrous,” the magazine said. While Alexander Hamilton had argued in The Federalist Papers that the system was designed to “afford as little opportunity as possible to tumult and disorder,” the Electoral College had never worked as intended. Instead, it had become a national embarrassment: Anyone looking for “a clear case of political sham and humbug,” The Nation argued, could “scarcely find a better instance in any country than the Electoral College of to-day.”

Fast-forward some 85 years, and The Nation was still singing the same song. After John F. Kennedy’s historically narrow 1960 victory, the veteran journalist Ted Lewis noted that a change of a few thousand votes could have swung the election to Richard Nixon. Observing that the close call had produced an “unprecedented public revulsion against the complicated electoral-college procedure,” Lewis warned that the institution would eventually have to be scrapped “when the nation, in some future Presidential election, finds its will has been thwarted to the point where it revolts against the results.” The national will has been thwarted twice since Lewis made that prediction—and still we wait for the revolt.

Support independent journalism that exposes oligarchs and profiteers


Donald Trump’s cruel and chaotic second term is just getting started. In his first month back in office, Trump and his lackey Elon Musk (or is it the other way around?) have proven that nothing is safe from sacrifice at the altar of unchecked power and riches.

Only robust independent journalism can cut through the noise and offer clear-eyed reporting and analysis based on principle and conscience. That’s what The Nation has done for 160 years and that’s what we’re doing now.

Our independent journalism doesn’t allow injustice to go unnoticed or unchallenged—nor will we abandon hope for a better world. Our writers, editors, and fact-checkers are working relentlessly to keep you informed and empowered when so much of the media fails to do so out of credulity, fear, or fealty.

The Nation has seen unprecedented times before. We draw strength and guidance from our history of principled progressive journalism in times of crisis, and we are committed to continuing this legacy today.

We’re aiming to raise $25,000 during our Spring Fundraising Campaign to ensure that we have the resources to expose the oligarchs and profiteers attempting to loot our republic. Stand for bold independent journalism and donate to support The Nation today.

Onward,

Katrina vanden Heuvel

Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

Richard Kreitner

Richard Kreitner is a contributing writer and the author of Break It Up: Secession, Division, and the Secret History of America's Imperfect Union. His writings are at richardkreitner.com.

More from The Nation

Making Enemies With the World

Making Enemies With the World Making Enemies With the World

Trump’s anti-immigrant position is devastating lives.

OppArt / Peter Kuper

JD Vance arrives at the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on January 30, 2025.

The Agony of JD Vance The Agony of JD Vance

The vice president's main job appears to be to embody the banshee scream of a dying order.

Tarence Ray

Protesters gather to demand the release of Mahmoud Khalil at Foley Square on March 10, 2025, in New York City.

14 House Dems Demanded Mahmoud Khalil’s Release. Where Are the Others? 14 House Dems Demanded Mahmoud Khalil’s Release. Where Are the Others?

All members of Congress swore oaths to defend the right to speak freely and assemble to petition for the redress of grievances. Why did so few of them sign this important letter?

John Nichols

Gaza Lago

Gaza Lago Gaza Lago

Over the genocide.

OppArt / Ed Wexler

Is Political Violence Ever Acceptable?

Is Political Violence Ever Acceptable? Is Political Violence Ever Acceptable?

Natasha Lennard argues that it’s harmful to acquiesce to the state’s determinations of violence, while David Cortright writes that violent acts prevent mass resistance movements.

The Debate / Natasha Lennard and David Cortright