On Wednesday evening, the University of West Florida is hosting a debate on whether to abolish the Electoral College. It’s the first event to be presented under the university’s new Office of Public Policy Events (OPPE). New state law requires public universities in Florida to have such offices to oversee campus speaker events.
“This was a way to create pathways for robust conversations, exploring divergent and opposing perspectives,” said Anna Lochas, director of UWF’s Office of Public Policy Events, summarizing the purpose of the legislation.HB 931 was signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis and went into effect July 1.
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In part, the measure addresses the opinion of the governor and Florida’s conservative elected leaders that the state’s universities had become overwhelmingly liberal and not welcoming of speakers with opposing ideology.
“There's been some movement in creating more opportunities for civil discourse on university campuses. And I think that's to address some of those issues they've seen in the past,” said Lochas, pointing out that the objective of the new OPPE is to present discussions of public policy issues via debates or group forums. “And so this was one initiative to ensure each state university is really providing those opportunities to not just students, but to faculty and staff and the community, as a whole, to really have opportunities to have those conversations, and have just civil discourse on a variety of topics.”
As the new offices ramp up across the State University System (SUS), Lochas says she’s working closely with other OPPE directors to share information on what they’re doing and discuss compliance, such as the requirement to submit annual reports to the Florida Board of Governors.
“We'll have to provide them with just some information on the events that we host, the topics, the speakers, how many of our enrolled students are attending,” she said. "And there may be a few other, areas we'll have to report on, as these kind of grow and change.”
Additionally, there are a number of requirements, including the mandate to present four such programs each year, two each in the fall and in the spring.
“And these events will be recorded and, posted on our website after each event,” Lochas said. “But, since we're already recording them, we're going to go ahead and live stream them as well. So, anyone who is unable to attend in person can still stream these events and participate in the Q & A virtually.”
According to Lochas, in the past, some speakers were uncomfortable with having their presentations recorded and archived in perpetuity. So to start, they’re focusing more towards faculty and staff engagement, who are all agreeable to having their presentations recorded.
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For the first OPPE event, Lochas turned to her former colleagues in the UWF Department of Government.
“The Reuben O’D. Askew Department of Government, is one area that I'm fairly familiar with, having worked with them previously," she explained. "And so when this first, came about, we reached out to them to see what opportunities there might be to partner with them. And, the department was already working on some Electoral College, conversations, and so they said yes.”
Specifically, political science professors from the department will debate whether the Electoral College should be abolished.
“We know the topic of presidential elections is going to be in the air next year, and we've noticed that a number of the election results over my lifetime have been disputed, that there's maybe increasing distrust of election results,” said Dr. David Ramsey, department chair and debate moderator.
He says that distrust in the nation’s electoral system has coincided with increasing calls to get rid of the Electoral College, which was established more than two centuries ago by the Founding Fathers as a process for picking the president.
“You know, the solution of the articles had been that the Congress would pick its executive, that there'd be an executive arising out of the legislature,” explained Ramsey. “And what that produced was a weak executive, one who was unwilling to push back against the legislature. So they were concerned to find some way to pick a president who would be able to exercise independence, represent the people, enforce the laws, but not be beholden to the legislature.”
As a result, presidential elections in the United States are determined not by the popular vote, or Congress, but by the vote of 538 electors across the nation, who make up the Electoral College.
There have been just five U.S. presidential elections in which the successful presidential candidate won the Electoral College but lost the popular vote. The most recent was in 2016 when Republican Donald Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton. It also happened in 2000 and three times in the 1800s (1824, 1876, 1888).
Over our history, Ramsey says changing the way U.S. presidents have been picked is not unprecedented.
“We've amended the Constitution already, to clarify what happens should the President become ill, or, should the President decide to seek office a third time,” he stated. “So there have been new rules and restrictions we've placed on who can serve as president and for how long and how they're selected.”
The pros and cons of whether the Electoral College should be abolished will be debated by UWF political scientists Dr. Alfred Cuzán, Distinguished University Professor, and Dr. Adam Cayton, associate professor.
“So in the debate, it is Dr. Cuzán who will take up the side of preserving the current system, and Dr. Cayton who will take up the argument for change, for adopting something new,” said Ramsey.
After the debate, there will be an opportunity for questions.
The event, which is free and open to the public, will be held this Wednesday evening at 6 in the UWF Commons Auditorium, and via Zoom.
For more information and to RSVP, visit the Office of Public Policy Events webpage.
