The Associated Press article about the Electoral College in Sept. 29’s edition was timely for me.

My wife and I recently spent a day at North Yarmouth Academy’s Grandparents’ Day. One of the events was to attend a class with our granddaughter, Emma, a junior.

The class we attended was U.S. history, and the general subject was our Constitution. Two subjects were discussed: the Birther movement and the Electoral College.

The Birther movement was debated for about 15 minutes. Most of the students said that a country built on an immigrant population no longer needed to have a requirement that the president must be a U.S.-born citizen, but because it was such a rare issue, it was not worth amending the Constitution. The discussion about the Electoral College was longer, but the only resolve was that the electoral system should be left in place.

The students, however, thought that more states should be like Maine and Nebraska, where some electors are not required to vote the popular vote winner.

They believe this approach would be more in line with our representative form of government.

My wife and I were most impressed that these soon-to-be young voters had such a understanding about these issues, were willing to express their opinions and were willing to come to conclusions through compromise.

Oh, that our U.S. Congress should do the same.

Christopher Dumaine, Mount Vernon


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