Dear senator,

The Electoral College is unfair, outdated, and irrational as Bradford Plumber stated. First of all, The electoral college consists of the electors, the meeting of the electors where they vote for President and Vise President, and the counting of the electoral votes by Congress. We should abolish the electoral college because it is unfair to voters. It's all because of the winner-take-all system that in each state, candidates don't spend time in states they know they have no chance of winning. They focus on the tight races in the "swing" states. For example, during the 2000 campaign, seventeen states didn't see the candidates at all - 25 of the largest media markets didn't get to see a single campaign ad.

One of the best arguments against the electoral college is the disaster factor. The state legislators are technically responsible for picking electors, and that those electors could always defy the will of the people. In 1960, segragationists in the Louisiana legislature nearly succeeded in replacing the Democratic electors with new electors who would oppose John F. Kennedy. This means that a popular vote for Kennedy would not have actually gone to him.

Another issue that most people worry about is the prospect of a tie in the electoral vote. If that happens, the election would be thrown to the House of Representatives and the Senate would choose Vise President.

To say the least, abolishing the electoral college is the best idea. According to a Gallup poll in 2000, I am not alone. The Gallup poll was taken shortly after Al Gore-thanks to the quirks of the electoral college-won the popular vote but lost the presidency. Over 60 percent of voters would prefer a direct election to the kind we have now. How does the electoral college even have any defenderes left? Even in a close election in which the popular vote winner could lose the presidency.

The electoral college is widely regarded as an anachronism and I couldn't agree more. It is a thing from the past and should stay that way. The electoral college is not democratic in a modern sense because it is the electors who elect the president, not the people. Richard A. Posner even says that when you vote for a presidential candidate, you're actually voting for a slate of electors.