The Electoral College is the intuition that formally elects the president. Each state has a certain amount of electors assigned to it, that number is based on how many representative that states as in congress. It is made up of 538 members which is the sum of the 435representative, 100 senators, and 3 electors given to the District of Columbia. In order to win the election a presidential candidate needs to receive a majority of the votes (270). The topic of whether the Electoral College is still a necessary part of today’s election process is highly controversial. But before delving into the various different arguments it is important to understand the history surrounding the Electoral Colleges origins. The Electoral College was created not …show more content…
There are several arguments both for and against whether or not the Electoral College should still be used today. Some of the key arguments against the Electoral College are as follows: the possibility of electing a minority president, the risk of faithless Electors, and that the Electoral College upholds the two party system. The arguments in support of the Electoral College are as follows: it contributes to the cohesiveness of the country by requiring a distribution of popular support to be elected president, it enhances the status of minority interests, and it maintains a federal system of government and …show more content…
There are several ways to elect a president who received a minority of the votes. The main way to have this happen is to have three or more candidates split the electoral votes between themselves and then have the house of repersentives vote to determine the winner. This has occurred only one time history which was in 1824 in the presidential election between: John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, and Henry Clay, with the winner being John Quincy Adams. Another issue people often have with the Electoral College is the risk of a faithless elector. A faithless elector is a member of the Electoral College whose state has pledged their vote to one candidate and then the elector then votes for another. This actually happens quite frequently with seven electors doing it this century and the most recent being in 1988. While this does happen more often than one would think it has never changed the outcome of an election. Perhaps the most interesting argument against the Electoral College is that it supports the two party system. This argument stems from the fact that all state but two states (Maine and Nebraska) have a winner take all system where the candidate who wins the populous vote wins all the electoral votes from that state. This makes it very hard for third
Did you know that the Electoral College was created as a compromise between those Founding fathers who wanted the president elected by Congress and those who wanted direct election by the people? Presidents are elected by a group of 538 electors, acting on behalf of the states and not by the citizens. This arrangement is called the Electoral College. Every four years, millions of United States citizens vote for a president and a vice president of the United States.
An example of this occurring is from the most recent which was the 2000 election between Al Gore and George W. Bush. Furthermore, there are pros and cons for the Electoral College. Some arguments for the Electoral College is it would allow cohesiveness throughout the country since it requires a distribution of popular support for the elected president. As well as, it helps enhance the status of minority interests, helps encourage having a two-party system and maintains a federal system of government and representation.
Discuss the Advantages and Disadvantages of the Electoral College The Electoral College system is an indirect system of voting. Under the Electoral College, American citizens are voting for an elector, who would then vote for the President. It is made up of 538 electors, who based on the public vote, cast their areas vote for president. Those citizens are not directly voting for the President. In order for a person to win presidency, they must obtain 270, or the majority, of the Electoral College votes.
Like many others great creation the Electoral College has some downfalls. The first con of the Electoral College according to Amelia Josephson " It gives too much power to swing states". What this means is when candidates run for president are more likely to target swing states rather than going to a state that always goes blue or red. Candidates do this because they are trying to sway the swing there way so they can win, which then gives the swing states power into picking the presidency. The second con the Electoral College according Kathleen McCleary
The Electoral College Emily Ballou Contrary to popular belief, America’s presidents are not elected by direct democratic vote of the people. Rather, the United States Constitution declares that they are to be elected by what is called the Electoral College. Established in 1787 during the Constitutional Convention, our Founding Fathers formed the Electoral College as a compromise between majority rule and congressional representative appointment. The Founders created the Electoral College for protection.
Recently, especially after the 2000 elections where Al Gore won in the popular vote with 500,000 more votes but lost the electoral vote to George W. Bush, has the public began really arguing if the Electoral College should continue to be the major deciding factor in elections. “The Electoral College, the assemblage of state electors constitutionally charged with electing the president, also limits third-party growth. With the exceptions of Maine and Nebraska, states award all their votes to the plurality winner within the state,(a term commonly referred as winner-take-all)” (AM GOV). Each state receives an electoral vote for every member they have in the Senate and House of Representatives.
The electoral college which was established at the same time that the rest of the three branches were set up, has been heralded as one of, if not the most controversial part of the modern government. Created in the constitution in Article Two, the Electoral College is a process in which the United States chooses its Chief Executive, the president. The Electoral College is made up of 538 members who are chosen, most often, by state party conventions (there is no exact way that is required for the choosing of states’ electors). Once the popular vote is collected the electors pledge themselves to a candidate, normally the person who won the popular vote but not always. This means that sometimes there will be a disparity between who wins the popular
People vote for the candidates by voting for the electors that reflect the viewpoints of the particular candidate and their personal political opinion. With that said, the Electoral College is a winner take all system where the states have voted and the majority vote of the presidential candidate goes to the electors that then cast their votes for the states. The Founding Fathers created the Electoral College in the Constitution for a couple of reasons. Schulman (n.d.) states the first reason it was fabricated “was to create a buffer between population and the selection of a President” (p. 1). Although, another significant reason that the Electoral College was created was for equal representation in voting
The United States Electoral College is an American system designed by the founding fathers to conduct elections. However, it has become subject to controversy in the 2016 Presidential election. The unique aspect of the Electoral College is how electors are awarded to presidential candidates using a state-by-state method of determining the number of electors. While the Electoral College is fundamental to the founders of America to protect the nation, its fatal flaws are too damaging to the people of the United States. In my opinion, the Electoral College needs to be reexamined in order to establish a new way of electing Presidents and Vice Presidents.
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.
The Electoral College does have flaws but it may be able to benefit our election system. People who oppose the Electoral College believe it is flawed. Many of
The Electoral College plays a very important role in the presidential election. The founding fathers established it in the constitution as a compromise between election of the president by a vote in congress and election of the president by a popular vote of qualified citizens. A majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the president. Sad to say that gaining all the popular votes doesn 't guarantee you a win. On four occasions, the winner of the popular vote did not capture the presidency.
It gives the smaller states a voice, that could have been ignored if the popular vote only counted. The Electoral College helps the candidates and their party keep their campaign organized, if the they know the amount of votes they are looking for they can organize how much time they spend campaigning in each state (Advantages and Disadvantages of the Electoral College). Also helps keep a sense of stability, but setting up a 2 party system of voting, and also gives the states to make their own laws on voting and being able to make amendments accordingly (Advantages and Disadvantages of Electoral College). The Electoral College also helps avoid the chance of fraud occurring or national recounts (Advantages and Disadvantages of the Electoral College). Even though the system has many advantages it also has many disadvantages as
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
Electoral college has been with us since the birth of the constitution, and to this day we are still using this type of system to this day. The Electoral College is a system that the United States uses to elect our upcoming presidents and vice presidents. Each state has electors equal to their senate member and house of representatives, however who ever gets the highest popular vote in the state gets the electoral vote. The issue is the Electoral College do not give votes to the people, but to the states. Which has some unfair consequences.