The United States prides itself on being a democratic nation that serves its citizens, yet its voting system throws democracy away in favor of efficiency. Even on the state level, not all states are represented equally when electoral votes are distributed. Finally, the Electoral College discourages third-party candidates from running, giving too much power to the two political parties of the nation and robbing the nation’s citizens from potential leaders who could change the country for the better if they could win the
The Electoral College is the process to which the United States elects the President, and the Vice President. The founders of the Constitution came up with this process. This was done to give additional power to the small states, and it was done to satisfy them. It works by the citizens of the United States electing representatives called electors. Each state is given the same amount of electors, as they are members of congress. Each elector must cast one vote for President and one vote for Vice President. In order to win the electoral college, and be nominated as President of the United States, the candidate must gain 270 of the 538 electoral votes. In an instance where no candidate receives the 270 votes needed, the House of Representatives
All through the history of the United States of America, many people have discussed the abolishment of the Electoral College. For many reasons, some believe it is what makes our country have the type of government we have, some believe that it's what limits the power of the government, and many people such as Mitch McConnell believes it is what gives us our freedom and prosperity. While these are valid arguments there is a multitude of reasons to why the electoral college should be abolished. Such as there is only a need for twelve states in order to become the president, popular vote of the people for president can still lose, and the Swing states are given too much power and attention compared to that of the other states. This is why I believe in the abolishment of the Electoral College.
“The Electoral College is a process, not a place (What is the).” The Electoral College has been around since the Constitution, but the reason for its existence is strange. When the Constitution was being created the Founding Fathers believed that the new found American citizens would be too stupid to govern themselves, and thus, The Electoral College was born. The Electoral College functions by giving each state a select number of votes based on population (What is the). Once each state gets their Electoral votes they must choose Electors; this is a two part process. First, Political Parties from the state chose potential electors, and then the people of the state vote on which electors they see fit (Electoral College Fast). Since its creation, The Electoral College has gone unquestioned, and we’ve never stopped to ask ourselves if it should still be in place. People are in opposition to The Electoral College because they believe it creates a sense of inequality, and lack of voice in vital elections. On the other hand, some people believe that The Electoral College gives states with smaller populations a voice, and is helping stupid people from making the wrong choice in elections. To some, The Electoral College has a magnitude of flaws perpetuating a unfair social hierarchy; to others, it is a system that is preventing inequality and anarchy to flourish in the United States.
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
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.
“The Founding Fathers established The Electoral College 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.” according to archives.gov. The Electoral College was an option out of four ideas as stated in a peer-reviewed article by William C. Kimberling, a Deputy Director
Many people do not realize that when they are voting for their presidential choice, they are really just voting for the Electoral College vote. The person who is nominated to hold the position for the Electoral College then votes for the presidential candidate. The Electoral College was put into place by the founding fathers 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 (Archives). The Electoral College is 538 electors and the President needs at least 270 electoral votes to win the election. The number of electors equals the House of Representative and two members of Congress. Many states have the “winner-takes-all” policy,
Amidst the chaos of the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election, emerges a cacophony of voices screaming for Electoral College reform. Many are angered by the results, others are confused: how can one candidate receive nearly three million more votes than the other and still lose the election? The Electoral College has been the United States’ method for electing a president since the Constitution was ratified, and this is far from the first time that it has been criticized. Proponents of the system accuse current skepticisms of being partisan, and the skeptics of being “sore losers”. However, defenders of the Electoral College, such as Guelzo and
Due to the past election there has been several protests and opposing opinions thrown from both the Democratic and Republican parties. One particular article, “Why We Should Abolish the Electoral College”, suggests the idea that our society should abolish the electoral college, due to it’s “unequal distributed [voting power] across our nation”, and switch to the popular vote, when voting during a presidential election. At first this idea may seem sensible to those who do not understand how the electoral college works, the demand is in fact, senseless and will only lead to unproportioned voting amongst all states. However, it is easy to understand why this article is depicting that the electoral college needs adjustments, and to view the main
The 2000 election between Bush and Gore adopted the nickname of the stolen election of 2000 due to the outcome that led to Bush’s win without having the popular vote. The possibility of the loser of the popular vote to potentially still win the electoral vote and overall the presidential candidacy is an issue. The framers of the constitution included the Electoral College in order to serve as a common ground between the states. However, this system is flawed in terms of the regulation of one person equal one vote. This was proven otherwise in the stolen election of 2000, in which Bush won the candidacy by the 25 Florida electoral votes. This outcome did not serve as an effective system for modern presidency. It makes American’s question whether or not their vote actually counts, in comparison to the votes of the electors they choose to represent their states. If someone who wins the popular vote of the people but not of the electoral loses how exactly does this allow the people to feel comfortable about making a difference with their own vote when the ultimate decision is not left up to them but the Electoral
The Presidential elections occur every four years. Which provide candidates’ time to share their political ideals with the general population. Once voting occurs the Electoral College takes its role. To become president it 's required to have 270 electoral votes. But, the process of getting to president is disproportional. For example disproportionate state votes, tie votes, and unbound electors are hindering democracy.
The Electoral College is a process that was established by the founding fathers of the United States to elect the President of the country. It was established as a compromise between the election of the President by popular vote and election of the President by vote in Congress. The Electoral College is composed of three parts: the selection of the Electors, the Elector meeting where they cast their votes, and the counting of the votes by Congress. In this paper, I will discuss the composition of and procedures within this Electoral College system in detail.
It is an indirect way of voting for an upcoming president for the United States. Having a disagreement about who should have the right to vote for the upcoming president and vice president (Congress or the people) the electors are the representatives of the state and do the voting. In an attempt to keep federalism, the electoral college helps to divide the power between the Congress and the people. Each elector only receives one electoral college vote. This ensures the balance between federal and state are equal. Individuals in each state place a ballot for whom they want their next president and vice president to be. The elector places their vote based on the majority of the popular vote within their represented state. All electors in the state vote the same, excluding two states. 100 votes are reserved for the senators, while 438 are divided within the district. A candidate needs 270 electoral college votes to win. If the United States was to alter the system from an electoral college voting system to going straight to the popular votes, each vote in all different state would be gathered and combined together. Once all of the ballots are counted, the candidate with the majority votes becomes president and vice
An electoral system or voting system is a mechanism by voters to make a choice between the options put forward before them. This part of rules is the most controversy about electoral systems for converting votes into seats. According to Hague and Harrop (2001), an election is a competition for office based on a formal expression of preferences by a population. These opinions are then combined into a collective decision about which candidates have won. As Abraham Lincoln said “Election belong to the people. It’s their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters”.