Team Eliminate Electoral College by Logan Finucan, Cyrus Goudarzi

CONA 2008’s largest combined proposal met a grim fate Monday as it failed to make the cut to Second Committee. The diverse group of seven delegates, ranging from New Jersey to Missouri to South Carolina, independently came to the same conclusion and drafted proposals to eliminate the Electoral College American Presidential elections. “We all had basically the exact same proposal,” Sean Costello, an author from Massachusetts, said. They were united in their belief that the Electoral College be replaced by a simple popular vote. “I’ve never been a fan [of the Electoral Collge],” Siofra Robinson, author from North Carolina said. “I couldn’t count the number of people on one hand that support it.”
All of the authors were understandably disappointed that their proposal did not make it further. They all agreed that they did most poorly on their originality rating, just by virtue of their being seven of the same proposals, in addition to debatability. Also critical was the proposal’s placement on the docket, dead last. “By the time ours was up for debate, people were sick of Electoral College proposals,” explains Courtney Arnold of South Carolina. “[By the end] voting gets meaner.”
What makes this defeat surprising, however, is the situation that arose just two years ago. In that session, seven delegates, including current PO Derek Summerville, combined to create the same proposal for eliminating the Electoral College. This nearly identical situation and proposal passed Washburn General Assembly. Ten years before, the advisor to Derek Summerville created the same proposal with ten other delegates and also went to General Assembly. Even in this session, two other proposals for eliminating the Electoral College who did not combine with the other seven advanced.
Summerville expressed surprise at the early death of this proposal, especially because of the large number of authors. “Usually the opposite happens,” Summerville said. “Often those who stay out of that alliance get left behind. They probably would have gone to Plenary or GA if they had combined.”
Despite the disappointment, all the authors were enthusiastic about the experience. “It was really great,” Costello said. More than anything, they were all glad to have the opportunity to work with and get to know one another. “We were all really diverse and learned about each other’s cultures,” Morgan Jordan of Tennessee said. “I know I wouldn’t have bonded with as many others as I did if we didn’t all combine and work together.”
The failing of this proposal displays just how influential and unpredictable combining can be. Although many times combing can advance a proposal’s prospects, it can just as easily bring it down. Although a proposal’s failure can bring frustration, combining always brings the opportunity for new experiences and new friendships.