The framers of the Constitution battled over it. Lawmakers have tried to amend or abolish it more than 700 times. To this day, millions of voters, and even members of Congress, misunderstand how it works. It deepens our national divide and distorts the core democratic principles of political equality and majority rule. How can we tolerate the Electoral College when every vote does not count the same, and the candidate who gets the most votes can lose?
This is not a new claim: People have been arguing against the Electoral College from the beginning. But no one, at least in recent years, has laid out the case as comprehensively and as readably as Jesse Wegman does ... detailed, but eminently readable ... Wegman leaves largely unaddressed how the compact interacts with the patchwork of state laws governing elections...These problems might well be solvable within the compact framework — but they require more thinking through now, before a presidential election turns on them.
... a thoroughly researched and forcefully argued attack on the odd system enshrined in the Constitution for selecting the president of the United States.
Wegman combines in-depth historical analysis and insight into contemporary politics to present a cogent argument that the Electoral College violates America’s 'core democratic principles' and should be done away with ... His extensive research and careful consideration of the issue from all angles reveal the current system’s defects, though the path to reform in the face of fierce political opposition remains somewhat unclear. Nevertheless, this urgent and lucidly presented plea for change will resonate with progressives.
