(12/2024) During the final weeks of the presidential campaign I made a concerted effort to listen to man-on-street interviews to probe their knowledge of American History and terminology related to the campaigns. It was very disappointing to hear so many incorrect answers and the inability to define various terms surrounding the election campaigns. This lack of knowledge and basic voter information was something our forefathers felt uncomfortable about. They were concerned about the quality of candidates that would be elected by a mass of voters that were not very knowledgeable. To mitigate this situation, our nation’s constitutional framers advocated for the Electoral College, a group of well-educated and knowledgeable individuals that could decipher among the candidates those that would make the best leaders.

So, rather than voters voting directly for their candidate of choice, they would vote for their representatives that formed the Electoral College. The Electoral College members receiving the most votes would in turn cast their vote for whom they determined to be the best candidate. Because of the limited means of communicating and informing the public until mid-1800, the framers of the constitution determined that the Electoral College would serve the nation well in this regard. However, this was not the sole purpose of the Electoral College, but it was also created for another very necessary reason.

The Electoral College serves to provide equity among regions and/or states regarding the power of voting. The Electoral College is designed to keep heavily populated areas from perpetually dominating less populated areas. If not for the Electoral College, Adams County and similar counties would be dominated by the voting power of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Erie, and Allentown. The Electoral College allows electoral votes to be cast for their candidate by state in proportion to its number of US Senators and US House of Representatives. This allows rural America to have concentrated voting power against the heavily populated cities of our costal and Great Lakes areas.

You may be asking yourself, "How is the Electoral College created?" This group of individuals is determined by each state’s political parties. It is a temporary body and only formed every four years for the purpose of the presidential/vice presidential election. No elected officials are allowed to be a member of the Electoral College due to possible conflicts of interest.

There are critics of the Electoral College. The Bar Association of America is one that claims that the Electoral College is antiquated and ambiguous and it should be abandoned. Why? What is wrong with facilitating equity across our nation? Perhaps the Bar Association finds great benefit from its legal powerhouses located in our major metropolitan areas. For whatever the reason for their criticism, it has to stand against nearly 250 years of our national success aided by the Electoral College.

This year’s election was given the title Democracy 2024. The word "Democracy" during this year’s election seemed to be used often, but the manner of use did not always seem congruent with its meaning. Democracy does not mean government but a type of government. In the United States we have three branches of government, not three branches of democracy. According to Webster’s dictionary, the principles of democracy are to be exemplified in the operation of our government through equality of rights, opportunity, and treatment. Democracy allows people to hold the ruling power either directly or through elected representation.

Those who are elected to office have sworn to use their power to ensure equality of rights, opportunity, and treatment. These actions and examples should also be followed by those that shout the loudest to defend democracy, but in practice these shouters systematically violate these principles by harassing people trying to eat a meal in public or intimidating those while leaving an event. Sadly there are those in media that take pleasure in these manners of behavior and are complicit to their continuance.

Those that violate the principles of democracy also fail to facilitate discussions that are civil and represent more than one view. The forum in which we need to approach differences of opinion is an approach often used by our PA Secretary of Agriculture, Russell Redding. When a controversial issue in agricultural arises, Secretary Redding generally begins addressing the situation by saying to his audience (which I, at times, have been a part of), "we need to have a conversation before we can move forward". Many times this was the path to bring about an acceptable solution to an issue rather than hateful shouting that accepts only one position.

Dedication Day, held on November 19 at the Gettysburg National Cemetery, memorializes Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address which is rich with the principles of democracy. Speaker after speaker at the Dedication defined democracy through the eloquent content of the Gettysburg Address; not one of the speakers defined democracy as the rule by the body that could intimidate others the best. All speakers agreed that the essence of democracy was exemplified by the phrase "the government of the people, by the people, and for the people".

To sustain this power of government we must exercise the right to vote. That was so evident in the General Election on November 5th when more than 80% of registered voters in Adams County exercised their right to vote. It was a beautiful thing to see that level of commitment from Adams County voters. Yes, it was the presidential election which draws the greatest interest and motivation to vote. Please remember that there are elections every year in PA. The non-presidential years include local officials, state and federal legislators, judges and school board members. These are very important positions because they are the closest government to you and often have the most impact on your life. Prepare yourself for the next election (the Primary) in May 2025.