We are a democracy, and we prove it with periodic elections, including presidential elections every four years. At least, that's what we're told. But every fourth year, most voters grumble at the mediocre (at best) choice of presidential candidates we are stuck with. Next year the probability is that an octogenarian incumbent will face off against a mentally unstable 77-year old challenger. Nobody seems to be happy about that.
How does this happen? We have to start with our 234-year-old Constitution, the universally accepted law of our land. While many see our Constitution as somewhat sacred, like the Bible, the truth is that this once vital and still generally respected document is antiquated and not always practical in the 21st Century, especially when it comes to election laws.
Think about it: how can we say we have free elections when the candidate with less votes can be elected president? We've seen that more than once, and as recently as 2016. Instead, we choose the winner based on the election results of a mysterious electoral college, which is not the kind of college that most of us are familiar with. How many Americans know the name of any of these electors? It's unfair, too. The electoral college is advantageous to smaller states but disregards the national popular vote.
More than that, the electoral college system renders the votes of many states irrelevant, instead focusing attention and money on the few states that are still in play, commonly referred to as "swing states." When the voter in California marks his ballot, it matters little whom he or she chooses, since we know that all the state's electoral votes will go to the Democrats, as it has done for the last several decades. The West Virginia voter who votes for Democrats is wasting a vote, too, as Republicans reliably win the state, and get all its delegates. Surely this is not how a democratic and free election should work.
Another complicating factor is whether the federal government or the state legislatures decide voting rules. The Constitution specifies:
"The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators."
In practice, states make most of the rules for their elections, even federal elections. This has become an issue because states controlled by one party have been able to enact laws that make voting more difficult for the other party. In recent years, Republican-controlled states especially have used gerrymandering to give themselves an advantage in redrawing districts and have enacted laws that make it more difficult to cast ballots for minorities, students and other groups that typically vote Democratic.
Finally, and perhaps worst of all, our ultra-conservative Supreme Court has declared that rich people can spend as much money as they like to get laws passed that favor them. In a 2010 ruling in Citizens United vs the FEC, along with other decisions before and after, the Supreme Court determined that freedom of the press as spelled out in the Bill of Rights means that money is equivalent to speech and therefore there should be virtually no limits on spending for elections.
That has led to the unfair system we have now, in which those with money can freely donate to candidates of their choice. Those favored lawmakers are pleased to take campaign donations from their rich constituents and see how they can be of service. You are not as important
if you have little or no money to donate.
For example, let's say you are a retired couple on a fixed income and want to donate $10 to your local representative "A." The CEO of a big corporation has a similar right. He can donate $10 million to a large Political Action Committee (PAC), often in secret, who will in turn donate the $10 million to representative "B." Not all that fair, is it?
In other words, politics today is essentially legalized bribery, with compliant politicians writing up laws to keep their wealthy donors happy. The average voter, lacking the big bucks, can only stand on the sidelines and watch the game being played.
Free and fair elections are a noble goal, one in which a nation can point to as evidence of a thriving democracy. Our country is not there yet. Nonetheless it is something we need to put in a lot of effort to achieve. But to say and pretend we have it now is just plain wrong.
