Electoral college should not be a rubber stamp

Trump loyalists dismiss the possibility that the Electoral College would violate their pledge to vote for the winner in their state. They attribute its existence solely to maintaining fairness among states with major populations and smaller, rural states. But, even in the days of the Founding Fathers a formula could have achieved the same result.

So, why human electors? Alexander Hamilton understood the masses could be manipulated, and thus the human electors could prevent a result that might harm the nation. The electors won’t vote until Dec. 19, a waiting period that allows them to assess whether the president-elect — through words, actions and appointments — is fit for the job and demonstrating himself to be good for the nation and all its people.

Donald Trump is failing: he has chosen a white supremacist to be in the Oval Office; his words to the hate crimes springing up, which his campaign rhetoric has given license, has been an uninspiring “Stop it;” his transition team seems to include everyone in his family.

The human electors should not regard themselves as a rubber stamp. They are yet another check-and-balance included in our democracy to protect it and see that it lasts.

This story was originally published December 1, 2016 at 6:38 PM with the headline "Electoral college should not be a rubber stamp."