The United States Electoral College is a system that has been in place since the country's founding, and it has been the subject of much debate and controversy over the years. Some argue that the Electoral College is outdated and should be replaced with a popular vote system, while others believe that it serves an important purpose in the American political system. The electoral college has lead to fair and democratic elections for over 200 years, removing it would ruin fair elections, lead to less voter participation and could even lead to more corrupt leaders. The Electoral College provides power to small states and swing states. In a winner-takes-all system, the candidate who wins the popular vote in a state receives all of its electoral …show more content…
One of the most common arguments against the Electoral College is that it was created to benefit slavery. This argument suggests that the Founding Fathers created the Electoral College to give slave states an advantage in presidential elections. However, there is little evidence to support this claim. In fact, the only mention of slavery related to the Electoral College debate at the Constitutional Convention is an obscure and unclear quote from James Madison. Furthermore, the earliest president who was most helped by the lack of a national popular vote was John Quincy Adams, who was anti-slavery and from a free state. Therefore, it is difficult to support the claim that the Electoral College was created to benefit slavery. Another argument against the Electoral College is that it renders rural and small states irrelevant. This argument suggests that the Electoral College gives too …show more content…
Moreover, the proportional plan would remove the advantage currently given to small states, which are guaranteed at least three electors regardless of their population size. This could make small states less relevant in presidential elections, as candidates would focus on winning votes in larger states with more electoral votes. This could lead to smaller states feeling disenfranchised and marginalized in the political process. Additionally, the proportional plan could increase the likelihood of close elections and disputes over the validity of votes. With the current system, disputes in a single state are generally limited in scope and can be resolved by that state's authorities or the Supreme Court. Under a national popular vote system, disputes could arise in multiple states, making it more difficult to resolve issues in a timely and fair manner. This could lead to legal challenges and recounts that could further delay the outcome of the election and damage public confidence in the democratic
The Framers of the Constitution created the Electoral College as a compromise between electing the President directly by popular vote and having Congress choose the President. At the time, there were concerns about electing the President directly, such as the lack of communication and travel infrastructure to facilitate a national election and the possibility of uneducated voters being easily swayed by popular demagogues. Additionally, the Framers were concerned that smaller states would be overshadowed by larger ones in a direct popular vote. The Electoral College has several pros and cons.
The American Founders were in favor of the electoral college. When the electoral college was created most of the people in America were not educated and could not read and write. Therefore, the Founders believed that the elections wouldn’t be fairly voted upon due to lack of knowledge from the people. Furthermore,
This shows that many voters feel that it is time for a change in the United State’s voting system. The Electoral College only reflects the candidate that wins the most votes per state (Kimberling). With a direct popular vote, it will reflect each voter’s opinion. The article, “Origins of the Electoral College, this states that, "the Electoral College was designed by men who did not want the election of the president to be left to the people…” (Holcombe).
The Electoral College is a system that has been used in the United States to choose its President and Vice President. It involves a group of electors chosen by each state who cast their votes on behalf of the citizens of their respective states. The candidate who receives a majority of the electoral votes, at least 270 out of 538, becomes the President of the United States. While some people argue that the Electoral College system is outdated and should be replaced with an alternative method, I firmly believe that it is the best system for our nation. My position statement is that the Electoral College system should be retained as it is the best way to elect the President and Vice President of the United States.
One of the United States’ fundamental beliefs is the idea that fair taxation with equal representation. Author of, “5 Advantages and Disadvantages of Electoral College”, Louise Gaille, elaborates, “In national representation, each state and population district receives equal representation, in either the house or the senate, and that allows individual voters to still have a say in what happens” (Gaille). The Electoral College was built on compromises the Founding Fathers made to ensure the equal ability for everyone to impact the decisions made in the country. Without national representation, states with smaller populations won’t have their votes as considered as the votes from larger states. For example, although Wyoming makes up about .18% of the population, they still control .56% of all electoral votes.
While there are valid arguments against the Electoral College, it remains a vital component of the American political system. One significant criticism of the Electoral College is that it increases the likelihood of a political candidate securing the presidency without receiving a large majority of the vote. Given this, people must remember why the founding fathers proposed the Electoral College. It was a way to ensure that all states, not just the ones with the most people, have a say in the election (Kirch). Without the Electoral College, candidates will be slightly more motivated to run for office in less populated states because such states' challenges and needs will likely go unmet.
My second and last point would be that this system contradicts the idea of equality for citizens. According to a chart created from various sources in the years 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016 from Document G, it shows all the popular votes and Electoral votes, from all those years the person who won the most popular votes still lost to the Electoral votes. It shows that the winner was determined by the electoral votes so it makes the popular votes not look as important as the electoral votes. This quote supports my thesis by showing how the popular votes from the people are not important and valued as much as the electoral votes. This makes them almost seem as useless so it isn't supporting the idea of equality in their system.
The Electoral College: An Ineffective Method of Selecting a President The Electoral College has been a topic of debate in the United States for quite some time, forming a fissure between citizens, especially being fomented given recent and imminent elections (list 6, 11, 15). There have been elections where the winner of the Electoral College did not win the popular vote: 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000, and most recently 2016 (pattern 10). While rare, this can be significant, with the winning candidate losing popular vote margins by as high as 3,000,000 votes, a situation that is often recondite and redoubtable to the average American (list 8, 21). These situations raise concerns (pattern 20).
The argument considering the validity of the electoral college system is home to many complicated components, therefore, creates very diverse opinions. In addition, not all voters are well educated as to how the system works as a whole nor the beginnings of the electoral college and why it was called to action. Because many people are only exposed to portions of the media, biases are easily founded. Some would argue that the electoral college helps the nation to manage large numbers of votes and essentially "round-out" a winner. When the elections are fairly slanted towards one candidate, the electoral college is helpful in fully distinguishing a winner.
The popular votes makes everyone’s vote equal, so if you are a liberal living in a conservative state, or vis versa, you will still get a bigger say based on your mindset. The popular vote is a fair and equal way to elect the president of the United States, and way better than the electoral college
Winner Take All System One of the main appeals of the electoral college system is that it avoids the “tyranny of the majority” by creating a way for the less popular candidate to win the presidency. Unfortunately, the system was unsuccessful in
Along with that, why would a voter feel their vote matters when candidates barely campaign in their state? Presidential candidates tend to ignore states they know they either have no chance of winning or are guaranteed to win in. Another argument against the electoral college is that small states are overrepresented. For example, a voter in Wyoming has almost quadruple voting power than a voter in California. California has 1 electoral vote per 712,000 people while Wyoming has 1 electoral vote per 195,000 people.
The Electoral College is an outdated system and should be abolished before it turns the tables of an election for the bad. This system of voting was developed in 1787 and has had a strong impact on American citizens for 230 years. The Electoral College was created to take power from over populated states and distribute it to the less populated states. It also serves a higher authority than the popular vote, which can alter the results of many elections. In the 230 years of this system being in action, 4 elections have been modified to set the victor as someone who the population did not want.
The Electoral College is a longstanding organization in place in the United States of America that was originally established by the Founding Fathers in create equality in presidential elections has become a topic of harsh criticism and controversy over the years. The Electoral College was established by the Founding Fathers of the United States at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 in order ensure there was representation of the people while keeping the best interests of the nation in mind (“What is the Electoral College?”). At the time of the writing of the Constitution, there were two main ideas on how to elect a president. The first was that there should be a simple vote of all eligible people and who ever gets the most votes becomes
Several years after the United States came to be, the Constitutional Convention met to determine how the new nation should govern itself. The delegates saw that it was crucial to have a president and vice president, but the delegates did not want these offices to reflect how the colonies were treated under the British rule. The delegates believed that the president’s power should be limited, and that he should be chosen through the system known as the Electoral College. The Electoral College is a body of people who represent the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the electing of the president and vice president. Many citizens feel that the Electoral College goes against our nation’s principle of representative democracy, while others