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Pros And Cons Of Electoral College

580 Words3 Pages

Nathan Palm
Mr. Baker
American Government
Electoral College or Not In the 1787 Constitutional Convention, one of the hardest questions to resolve was how to elect the president. (Roos) The Founding Fathers debated for months and came up with the compromise known as the Electoral College. Alternatives such as Congress picking the president and a democratic popular vote were discussed, but the electoral college was the method agreed upon by the Founding Fathers. 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 …show more content…

Many great presidents were elected through the Electoral College such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt. Though it may not always be ideal, everyone knows the rules which makes the complex process simpler. It also promotes the building of coalitions, as support from a broad basis is needed, which allows political parties to compromise. Coalitions would increase decisions made and more would get done which would support the general election and even the needs of households at local levels. (Gaille)
The third reason the Electoral College should continue to be used, is that it reduces problems such as fraud, recounts, lawsuits, and runoff elections. Because of the structure of the Electoral College, fraud becomes isolated and more difficult to attempt. It reduces recounts and lawsuits as it sets a threshold for a candidate to win and makes the winner apparent at the end. Also, by setting a threshold, it can eliminate runoff elections. In 227 years, the winner of the popular vote has lost only five times, which shows that the electoral college is working.

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