The Electoral College discourages election fraud. (“President should be elected by popular vote,” July 24). Officials in lopsided states have no incentive to fudge their numbers: Their party has already won and inflating the margin of victory will not change the final outcome. In contested states, both parties closely monitor the entire process, ensuring honest results.

But in a popular vote, a bright red state — or a bright blue one — would have a strong incentive to add extra votes for their party to steal the national election. Since the opposition party is poorly represented, such fraud would be relatively easy compared to our current system. In a vicious cycle, both sides would suspect the other of cheating, and thus would have a stronger incentive to cheat in response.

In a disputed election, results in every precinct in the nation would have to be investigated. Investigations would be questioned, because they would be led either by biased insiders or biased outsiders.

A popular vote for president would be a chaotic disaster and would be perfect fodder for those trying to undermine faith in our democratic process. Better to only include Representatives, not Senators, in the Electoral count for each state.

Greg Robinson

Ledyard