y Americans feel puzzled on whether they approve of the electoral college or change it all together. However, before the argument begins on which method would prove most beneficial to Americans, we must consider all the facts surrounding how the electoral college works. Each state, including the District of Columbia, receives one electorate for each of congressional delegates which includes both the house of representatives and senate. Most states, with the exception of Nebraska and Maine, adopted a winner takes all approach that uses the majority from each state to determine who all the its electors vote for. This becomes an issue when the popular vote, which is determined by looking directly at the number of votes each candidate received by the citizens themselves, and the electoral college do not match. Nevertheless, the pros of the electoral college system and the rich history accompanying it severely outweighs the pro found in changing it system outright. …show more content…
This makes the presidential candidates campaign across all of the United States and forces development across the country. Thus limiting the dangers of region problems that is extremely common in all larger country like china and even afflicted great empires like the Romans. Another large selling point to keeping the electoral college is without it, it effectively destroys one of the most important pillars to the founding fathers, federalism. Federalism is the political idea that allows for a central government, in our case the national government, and regional government, the states, to coexist and contain similar levels of power. The states will no longer need congressional delegates because the interests of the states will be ignored in favor of appealing directly towards the
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 Electoral College is “a body of people representing the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the election of the president and vice president.” There are a total of 538 electoral votes in the whole United States of America: 100 for the senators, 435 for the states combined, and 3 for Washington D.C. Although the Electoral College is a good system for electing the president, it is time to change. There are many flaws for this system. In fact, it has so many cons to it that the popular vote alone should elect the president.
Do We Need the Electoral College? Following the 2016 election many individuals we shocked to find Donald Trump had won the Presidency while not having the popular vote. They were unaware of how the electoral college works and how the president is actually elected through the electoral college rather than the popular vote. But, before we find out if we need the electoral college, we must look into why it was created, and look at the pros and cons of the electoral college as well as the pros and cons of the proposed system to replace it.
The Electoral College exists, according to the Federalist Papers, in order to account for the opportunity of the tyranny of the majority or factions. It gives us the responsibility of choosing the President and members that are the best for us that prevents from bias opinions on who is chosen. The reason that the Constitution calls for this extra layer, rather than just providing for the direct election of the president, is that it will harm us a whole. James Madison worried about what he called "factions.” Until today, we are afraid of what Madison called, "the tyranny of the majority" – was that a faction could overgrow 50% of our population, at which point could sacrifice the rights of other citizens.
In the Electoral College, each state gets a number of electors based on its representation in Congress. The Electoral College is the best method for electing a president for the country right now. The first reason the Electoral College is best, is that it ensures that all parts of the country are involved in the
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).
As of recently a debate that has existed in American politics for centuries has flared up again. The debate in question is whether we should keep our Electoral College for the purpose of electing our President or abolish it and elect our Presidents through a popular vote. Those who seek to abolish the Electoral College cite instances -recent and past- in which Presidential Candidates have won the popular vote yet lost the majority of the Electoral College. They also argue that the undemocratic philosophy behind the Electoral College, the thought that the American people aren’t competent enough to choose their own Commander in Chief, is an outdated piece of a backwards past that has no place in modern society and law. Those who seek to preserve the Electoral College as it is state that the electoral system the framers of the Constitution created is as good as it can
The Electoral College, Americans have their own opinions on how it is running and how it contributes to the presidential election. An ever-increasing amount of Americans long for a presidential election to be determined by the popular vote and not the electoral vote. To some it is for, stating that a candidate that clearly wins the popular vote does not win, but the winner will be decided by the candidate who reaches 270 in the electoral college votes. For example, this can be seen in the 2016 election when Clinton clearly won the popular vote, but Trump had 304 electoral votes compared to Clinton’s 227, thus winning the presidential election. I know how the president is chosen, and I believe that the set up of the electoral college is no longer
One pro is it protects uneducated voters from making the final decision on who the president of the country would be. Also, the Electoral College ensures that all parts of the country are involved in who gets to be president. Lastly, the Electoral College guarantees assurance to the outcome of the presidential election. Some cons include, the reasons for which the founding father created the Electoral College are no longer relevant. Next, the Electoral College gives more power to some of the swing states, and allows the presidential election to be decided by a handful of states.
One of the most popular reasons why we should keep the electoral system is that it gives small states an equal opportunity. If the president was elected through popular vote the areas of America with more population would rule the White House. But in the electoral college the smaller states have a more equal vote. Small states can make a big difference when it comes to tight elections and because of that candidates cannot ignore the smaller states. But if we had the popular vote system the candidates would only travel to bigger states with a larger population.
The electoral college is not as effective as it was in the past, we have more people now and there are more laws placed so that everyone could vote. The electoral college has many problems due to the ‘swing states’ which are the most densely populated states causing the state vote to have too much power. If America were to get rid of the electoral college then every vote will count and everyone would have the same amount of
If we somehow happened to be a capable vote, then we ought to have the capacity to really pick who might be president. The Electoral College removes that from us. The Electoral College is not by any stretch of the imagination reasonable for our rights and our opportunity. It, for the most part, takes away the ability to vote the president. The Electoral College was made in a period when votes were harder to gather and number.
According to Posner, “The Electoral College restores some of the weight in the political balance that large states lose by virtue of the mal-apportionment of the Senate decreed in the Constitution” (Posner). Although the electoral college does prevent some states from having too much power, it also gives immense power to other states, such as Texas, Florida, and California. Another concern for people that support the electoral college is that it helps control swing states from having too much pull. Despite some states having a stronger pull in the voting system, switching to a popular voting system would negate the swing state concept and help each individual citizen proclaim in own political believes, despite the state he/she lives in. William discusses the 2008 election and states, “It 's time for a national popular vote.
The electoral college creates "Certainty of Results"(Electoral College: Pros & Cons) where it is easier to count, and make sure the count is correct, under 600 votes, as opposed to the billion or so that comes from popular vote. This allows the candidate to call for a "recount" where they are able to count up the votes and make sure that there was no missed votes or misunderstandings which may have been lingering within the vote. The Electoral College also limits the candidate’s ability to pander to certain states or cities for their votes, rather they can appeal to many states, for they all have equal roles. Overall, the Electoral College is a great addition to our republic, and I believe it could be improved, but keep the same
The Electoral College system assures balanced power between the states, puts the independent parties under control, grants balanced voting, and supports the major political parties. The Electoral College has proven itself to be very sufficient in determining the president and the vice president of the United States. Since this system has been successful since our Founding Fathers created it, there should be no reason as to why we should get rid of the Electoral