Well, congratulations. Another election is in the bag. Too bad this means diddly squat.
Every four years we convince ourselves that we are these powerful beings who can control the future of this nation by filling in a few bubbles. What we need to realize is that there is a lot more that has to change than the next picture in the presidential timeline. We need to reform the entire voting system if we really want to see this country and our opinions go anywhere.
Having the ability to cast a ballot or push some buttons on an electronic voting machine doesn’t give us the power we think it does.
The bigger issue is the Electoral College, which is the system that decides our president. Instead of just taking each individual vote into account and tallying everything nationwide, our votes are reduced to the number of representatives and senators we have. Based on that number, each state is given a certain number of electors. Colorado, for instance, has nine electoral votes (for our two senators and seven representatives) and these nine electors represent the views of close to 3 million registered Colorado voters.
I can’t say I’m fan of math, but wouldn’t it just make more sense to take all of our votes into account individually? The Electoral College is written in Article II, Section I of our Constitution. But to be fair to every voter in this nation, this should be reformed and made simpler. Yes it’s our Constitution, but our Constitution can be changed if we as a nation decide it is necessary.
Of course, the Electoral College determines the winner between the two candidates the masses are aware of on the presidential ballot. I say aware of because there are far more choices than the Republican and Democratic candidates. But thanks to the influence of corporations and Super PACs, these two parties are given a ridiculous amount of support for campaigns and advertising in the months leading up to Election Day.
Opensecrets.org does a phenomenal job of not only describing Super PACs (PACs are political action committees), but also showing which organizations and PACs donated what funds to what parties.
As their website says, “Super PACs may raise unlimited sums of money from corporations, unions, associations and individuals, then spend unlimited sums to overtly advocate for or against political candidates.”
The site also adds that, “Super PACs are prohibited from donating money directly to political candidates.”
So all the political ads we’ve been avoiding and resenting for the last few months can mainly be blamed on these PACs. And we can also blame them for the fact that we, essentially, only have a choice between two fancy rich guys to represent one of the three branches of government that run this nation.
Like I said before, I’m not the best at math, but everything about our voting system and elections just doesn’t add up. I hope that the rest of the nation sees this too and, better yet, decides to act and do something about it as a whole. Let’s believe in our nation again and make this a country that is truly for the people, by the people.
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