Editor,

There is a movement in the United States to upend the electoral college and effectively replace it with a national popular vote. We believe this to be not only unwise but [also] that it would be a mistake of tremendous proportions and ramifications. In the formation of the union of sovereign states our founding fathers devised the electoral college as an effective counterbalance for those states entering the union that were smaller in population, size and influence.

If we did not have the electoral college and only direct election, any mass or sect of people carrying over 50 percent of the vote would rule the remaining minority. Can you see a direct vote where three wolves and a sheep vote on what is for supper? I suppose the majority would rule and lamb chops are on the menu.

In the same effect today, states with high populations such as California, Texas, Florida and New York would set the tone and rule. In the words of Alexis de Tocqueville, this is the “tyranny of the majority.” Regardless if the United States is defined as a “nation,” we are not; we are a collective as in the plural of United States with a “s” and in each state in the various areas of the union there are very different cultures and views. I do not want to live by what Californians believe, nor do I actually care if Californians live as I believe. If the electoral college was to be done away with or just as effectively circumvented through clever schemes, the political fabric of our union quilt would unravel.

Jonathan Varnell

Elm City, North Carolina