In response to Peter Neds’ letter, “
Democrats are certainly not the enemy of the republic and it’s too bad Neds takes such a hateful approach to bring it up for debate. It clearly needs to be eliminated in favor of election by the popular vote count, as 83 percent of Americans polled say. So the sooner it becomes a topic of discussion, the sooner change can occur.
The indirect election by electors was a compromise afforded to the Southern states to account for the slaves who lived there. Madison himself thought direct election was preferable but the “Southern compromise” was an easier path forward.
With current modern technology there is no excuse to continue indirect election. It has failed us in the past and will likely do so again.
Maurice Harrigan
Pittsboro, North Carolina
