Our governor and his legislative colleagues have proudly jumped on the National Popular Vote bandwagon by signing on to the interstate compact in which they promise to deliver all of Delaware’s electoral votes to the winner of the popular vote in the next presidential election.
This is an exciting initiative but most likely unconstitutional as it circumvents the prescribed system for electing our country’s chief executive as set forth in the U.S. Constitution (Articles II, V if you, like me, happen to keep that archaic relic on the nightstand. It is doubtful many of our state representatives or the governor who signed the bill late last March ever make reference to that dank parchment.).
Although this law and the horse and buggy it rode in on have left the barn, it is still worth discussing the implications. Small states like Delaware benefit from the elaborate system of checks and balances that were imbedded in the Constitution. In 1787, Delaware’s Gunning Bedford played a central and vocal role in protecting the small states from the wills and whims of larger states at the Constitutional Convention.
Today’s state leaders have disparaged the memory and hard work of our founders who cast an intricate system to balance power not only between the three branches of government but also between the states and the federal government.
The system for electing the president which we know as the Electoral College is an important element of that system. The founders were well aware of the dangers of a simple democracy and purposefully designed a constitutional democracy to protect against unfettered majority rule.
The presidential election system does this by placing the responsibility for electing the president with the individual states. As the states are the focal point for the election, the system also compels candidates to appeal to a broad spectrum of the country.
The 2016 election, although cited as problematic as the popular vote-winner Clinton failed to secure the needed electoral votes, is actually an example of how the system works to ensure the winner has a broad appeal across a diverse, pluralistic country.
If one looks beyond the popular vote, nationwide, Clinton only won contests in 489 counties to the 2,623 counties won by Trump.
Additionally, over 20 percent of Clinton’s popular vote tally came from only two large states, California and New York (Ross, 2017).
If the NPV ultimately becomes the law of the land and direct popular vote is enacted, we will see a very new dynamic. The role of the state will be minimized as a centralized federal election system will necessarily replace the states’ role in the election of the president.
It will be the unraveling of our system of checks and balances and how things work as we see states with large populations dominate the process.
Gunning Bedford played an instrumental role in Delaware becoming the first state to approve the Constitution. If memory serves me, our state motto is “The First State.” Unfortunately, Delaware will now be able to say they were among the first to dismiss it. To quote Gunning Bedford, “I do not, gentlemen, trust you.”
Herbie Smith
Ocean View
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