Argumentative Essay On The Electoral College

Ivee Savage

Mr. Edwards

U.S. History 1A

13 February 2003

Electoral College Argumentative Essay On February 9, 1825, John Quincy Adams is elected as president of the United States. It has been a long election process. With no majority in the electoral college, the election has had to go to the House of Representatives. It is the first time since the passing of the twelfth amendment that a presidential election has received no majority. Why did the election go to the House, and how is it decided? U.S. Elections use a specific system to ensure voting is fair and accurate. This is called the electoral college. The electoral college allows people to vote for electors, who then vote for the president. They meet every presidential election, usually

The article defines minorities as “...ethnic or religious groups that exist in smaller numbers in the United States.” This could include any group of people with numbers smaller than the majority of the population. In some cases, many minorities feel they don’t have a say in what happens, because the larger group will win. The electoral college gives these groups a chance to impact the results of an election. The article states “Essentially, they can tip the total number of popular votes from one candidate to another, if they all support one particular candidate.” With the winner-takes-all system the U.S. currently uses, minorities can change what candidate their state representatives vote for. This is because when a candidate gets the popular vote in a state, the electors of that state will typically vote for that candidate, giving all the states' votes to the individual. This also forces the candidates to broaden their focus to all people, instead of just the majority. Furthermore, the electoral college has only two major parties, which forces them to focus on a broader range of issues that appeal to more people. The article says, “Candidates have to understand a broad number of issues facing the nation, and have a clear position on all of them.” This can allow for more stability in the country because there are more people satisfied with the election results, and more issues in our country are being addressed. Having two major parties also keeps the election as simple as possible, and makes it less time-consuming and