The Electoral College needs to go, because it's made our society

Hear now the words of Pete Buttigieg, spoken with the clarity of a man who seeks to preserve the spirit of liberty: “The Electoral College needs to go, because it’s made our society less and less democratic.” These words pierce like a blade through the illusions of power. For what is the essence of democracy, if not the voice of the people ringing clear and true? And what becomes of that essence when the system silences the many so that the few may decide? Democracy, like a flame, requires tending. But when the people’s will is twisted by the machinery of outdated rule, the flame begins to flicker, threatened by shadows of injustice.

The Electoral College, born of compromise in the founding days of America, was once a bridge between the fears of the few and the hopes of the many. In the infancy of the republic, when mistrust between large and small states ran high, this system was crafted as a fragile peace, ensuring no state would be trampled by the weight of another. Yet what once was meant as balance has become distortion. In an age where every citizen can speak, where every vote can be counted, why should some voices thunder while others whisper? Why should the destiny of millions hinge upon the choices of a few states, while the vast chorus of the nation is muted?

Consider the tale of the election of 2000, when Al Gore won the popular vote of the people, yet the presidency was awarded to George W. Bush by the design of the Electoral College. The world looked on in astonishment, for the people had spoken one truth, but the system delivered another. Again in 2016, the nation saw the same wound reopened: the candidate who lost the people’s voice ascended to power. These are not mere accidents of history; they are reflections of a system that has drifted from the very soul of democracy.

True democracy is the covenant between rulers and ruled, the promise that power flows upward from the people, not downward from the halls of power. When that covenant is broken, trust begins to wither. A society where the people’s choice is overturned becomes fragile, for injustice sows division, and division breeds despair. This is what Buttigieg warns us of: that as long as the Electoral College endures, America walks a path where the many are sacrificed for the designs of the few, and the promise of equality falters.

Yet let us not despair, for the mirror of history shows us another truth: systems can change, and when they do, nations are renewed. Did not the people of Britain reform their own voting system in the 19th century, extending suffrage beyond the wealthy elite? Did not South Africa cast aside apartheid’s false democracy, replacing it with one where every voice was counted? Change comes when the people demand it with unity and persistence, when they refuse to accept half-justice in place of full equality.

The lesson, then, is this: if democracy is to live, it must live fully. Every voice must matter. Every vote must carry equal weight. It is not enough to revere the symbols of freedom while tolerating systems that undermine them. The people must be vigilant, must call for reform, must rise to demand that their leaders listen. For democracy is not a relic of the past; it is a living covenant, renewed only by the courage of each generation.

What, then, must you do? Raise your voice, support reforms that ensure equality in voting, and teach your children the sacredness of a system where the people rule. Speak against injustice not only in words, but in action—vote, advocate, demand. For if democracy is neglected, it will die; but if it is cherished and defended, it will flourish like a tree whose roots run deep.

Thus remember the truth in Buttigieg’s cry: “The Electoral College needs to go.” It is not a call to destroy but to restore, not to abandon but to renew. For democracy is strongest when it belongs to all, and weakest when it belongs to the few. Let us be the generation that tends the flame, that lifts the voice, that ensures the covenant of freedom endures. For only then shall society live, not as less and less democratic, but as more and more just.