Years ago (or so it seems), we had Magmar on our list, and I commented that it was a rare case where the Pokemon from the Blue version was lower than the corresponding Pokemon from the Red version. That still rings true here. Electric types back then were, and still are today, better than Fire types. They have fewer weaknesses and are more useful against more common types. So Electabuzz gets the advantage over Magmar simply from type.
Now, let's take a look at the moveset: Eek. Lecty learns seven moves naturally and they are ALL bad. Light Screen is okay but really didn't become super useful until it stayed with your whole team for five turns, rather than only affecting the Pokemon that used it (and, sidebar, made Baton Passing all the rage). But Buzz doesn't learn either of the good Electric moves (Thunderbolt and Thunder Wave) naturally. Of course, if you're playing the RBY generation--or actually just Red or Blue, since they got rid of the glitch in Yellow--you already have used the MissingNo. glitch to duplicate all of your items. Which would include the TMs of Thunderbolt and Thunder Wave. So Electabuzz CAN learn both of them, it just doesn't do it naturally, which makes it kind of annoying. It also can learn Psychic via TM, to give it a fighting chance against Ground types, and to thwart off any Grass/Poisons that try to stall-kill 'Lectrolite.
Stat-wise, Buzz isn't too bad. Sure, it has low HP and horrid defense, but what Electric type doesn't? Oh yeah, none of them, so the Electoral College doesn't stand out too much. Like other Electric types, it has quality Special and fantastic Speed, with a higher than normal Attack. Too bad it can't learn any other useful physical attacks, outside of Normal-type ones. And those aren't that good because they never deal super-effective damage to anything. On top of it all, Electabuzz kind of looks stupid. Sorry, but it does.
Battling Grade: C+
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