Editor,

In response to Mr. Harry S. Hansen’s letter from Dec. 20, “The U.S. is a constitutional republic”: You’re right that we live in a republic, not a pure democracy (although I doubt that’s what Ms. Ann Adams believes either when she uses the term democracy).

The issue regarding the electoral college remains: we live in a republic in which officials are elected to represent the people, yet the president is neither elected by the people nor representative of the people. As long as the electors themselves are not elected by the people and are free to vote for whomever they choose, the president does not represent the people. Who are these electors? What are their names? What religion are they? What do they think about climate change, globalization, monetary policy, abortion, or gay rights?

True, the electoral college works just fine as designed, and it is what the framers intended, but it doesn’t mean it’s what’s best for us today. The Federalist Papers, while respectable, are not the end-all of political debate, so it’s not helpful to tell people to just refer to Federalist 10 and 14 and be quiet.

DONNA BUTLER

Oak Harbor