Tradewinds August 2020 Web Final

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This Day in History: Colorado, 1876, & the Electoral College
On this day in 1876, Colorado is admitted to the
Union as the 38th state. America was then
celebrating its 100th birthday, which is why Colorado
is known as the Centennial state.
Maine and Nebraska currently reject the winnertake-all
allocation of electors used by the rest of
the country. Instead, those two states allocate their
electors by congressional district.
by: Tara Ross
Did you know that Colorado chose not to conduct a
presidential election in 1876?
The new state was looking at a tight timeline. It was
admitted into the Union only three months before the
presidential election. It would have been logistically
difficult and fairly expensive to hold a statewide
popular vote that year.
So the state simply didn’t do it. The legislature directly
appointed electors instead.
In 1836, Virginia refused to accept the Democratic
nominee for Vice President. Richard M. Johnson
of Kentucky was controversial because he’d been
living with one of his slaves. Virginians were horrified
and chose electors pledged to William Smith of
Alabama instead.
In 1892, some states did not include Grover Cleveland
on their ballots. In 1948, some states rejected
Harry S. Truman. In 1860, ten southern states
refused to list Abraham Lincoln.
The move sounds surprising to modern ears, but
early Americans knew something that today’s voters
have forgotten: Our unique presidential election
system gives states flexibility to look out for the best
interests of their own citizens. No national, centralized
force drives presidential elections: States are in
charge.
Importantly, this power resides in the hands of state
legislatures, not their Governors. “Each State shall
appoint,” the Constitution provides, “in such Manner
as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of
Electors . . . .”
Historically, state legislatures have taken this
responsibility seriously, and they’ve acted independently
in ways that are largely unexpected today.
Consider what happened in Wyoming, which
became a state in 1890. Two years later, that state
hosted a presidential election in which women were
allowed to vote. Wyoming didn’t lobby other states,
asking for permission. It simply acted in accordance
with Wyoming’s needs and preferences.
The state had a pragmatic—and perhaps humorous—reason
for its decision. It needed to attract
more women to the frontier!
Other states have displayed their independence in
other ways.
Massachusetts once had a system in which the state
legislature would select electors if no one received
a majority of the state’s popular vote. Meanwhile,
At least reportedly, some states gave Teddy Roosevelt’s
electors freedom to vote as they thought
best in a three-man race in 1912. If Roosevelt was
undermining William Taft’s chances of defeating
Woodrow Wilson, then they were supposed to vote
for Taft instead.
Obviously, state independence doesn’t suggest that
states will always act with perfect motives. “If men
were angels,” James Madison famously wrote, “no
government would be necessary.” However, the
decentralized system reflects perhaps the most
fundamental cornerstone of our Constitution: checks
and balances. Such safeguards ensure that a variety
of voices are heard.
In recent years, we’ve strayed from the Founders’
decentralized, state-by-state approach to presidential
elections. Instead, national media, national
polling agencies, and the national political parties
dictate much of what happens.
We are straying from the Founders’ design and
simultaneously becoming more angry and divided.
Perhaps that’s no coincidence.
To order Tara’s books, go to this link:
http://www.taraross.com/books/
Tara Ross is a mother, wife, writer, and retired lawyer. She is
the author of The Indispensable Electoral College: How the
Founders’ Plan Saves Our Country from Mob Rule,Enlightened
Democracy: The Case for the Electoral College, co-author of
Under God: George Washington and the Question of Church
and State (with Joseph C. Smith, Jr.), & We Elect A President:
The Story of our Electoral College. She is a constitutionalist, but
with a definite libertarian streak! Stay tuned here for updates on
pretty much anything to do with the Electoral College, George
Washington, & our wonderfully rich American heritage.
28 Albemarle Tradewinds August 2020 albemarletradewinds.com