Unlike any other democracy in the world, the United States elects its president using the electoral college system. Not even state and local level elections within the United States use this archaic approach. The system was created to protect the interests of smaller states, yet it has failed to do so, meaning it is no longer relevant. The electoral college system is unfair and should be abolished because of the dominance of the winner-takes-all system, inequality of votes, and reliance on electors.
Winner Take All System
One of the main appeals of the electoral college system is that it avoids the “tyranny of the majority” by creating a way for the less popular candidate to win the presidency. Unfortunately, the system was unsuccessful in
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This objective was unsuccessful. In fact, according to CGP Grey, the number of inhabitants is irrelevant, because candidates focus on swing states. States that consistently vote for or against certain parties are completely disregarded. Candidates don’t need the approval of the people, but rather the approval of a slight majority of citizens in swing states. However, while the system may not give more power to individual smaller states, it still amplifies the voices of the minority. A writer for the New York Times, Ross Douthat explains the advantage of the electoral system in his article “A Case for the Electoral College.” He explains how in the 1800s, the amplified power of the minority balanced “the electoral gains that white supremacist Democrats reaped by disenfranchising black voters” (Douthat). He explains how this makes it possible for a less popular candidate to win the presidency as long as the “minority is regionally concentrated rather than diffuse[d]” (Douthat). While this viewpoint may seem appealing, it better serves to highlight other issues within our political system than support the continuation of the electoral college approach. There are other ways to account for voter disenfranchisement than relying on the presidential election system to account for the …show more content…
It is time for the United States to discard a voting system that allows the minority population of the country to choose the president. While the minority’s interests are still important, a democracy should reflect the will of the general population, not a select few. To protect the interests of the minority, the United States should revert to a two-round system with the added resolution that the winning candidate must get over 55% of the votes or else the losing candidate becomes the vice president. This way the intentions of the general population are reflected in the presidency, but the minority isn’t completely silenced. Whether or not this is the right solution, continuing with the electoral college system is the wrong one. The power of the winner takes all system, disparities in voter impact, and the presence of electors are such great disadvantages that the electoral college system should be
The current system is undemocratic. The electorate does not officially elect the president, those who are apart of the electorate college elected the president. No other country holds their election in such a convoluted manner.” “Our nation witnessed the result of allowing the Electoral College to determine the
However, this is not entirely the case. Smaller states are actually given more electors than they otherwise should have, and larger states are short a few electors. If a candidate wins the majority of the citizens’
For example, in a safe state, which is a state that is known to vote for a certain political party in each election, the minority party will not get representation because the state will be voting in a certain way. This is true for both the Democrats and Republicans because there are safe states for each, where the minority party in a state can vote but all of the electoral votes will still go towards the majority. For these reasons, the winner-take-all system is a problem with the Electoral
If America has been on the basis of “we the people” from when the preamble was written in the Constitution, how has it become just to use a political system that denies citizens their right to a vote that actually matters? This system is the electoral college. It is a method of indirect popular election of the President of the United States. That word “indirect” is a prime notion of why the electoral college has been the subject of persistent criticism and frequent proposals for reform. It has been seen in great times when the electoral college made an unjust decision in electing the president when their decision diverged from the nation's popular vote.
For one to be elected as the President, the candidate needs to get the greatest number of votes. In order to evaluate whether this system is effective or not in the current situation of United States, we need to understand the goals of the setting up of the Electoral College to see if the system has served its purposes. In my opinion, I believe the Electoral College is not a good idea for the United States at the moment. The reasons will be discussed in the following passages.
Some states, particularly ones with smaller populations, are given more electoral votes than their population should denote due to their automatic extra two senatorial votes. The twelve smallest states and Washington D.C. combine for 44 electoral votes with only 12.5 million votes. The states of Illinois has a total of 12.8 million people, but only has 20 electoral votes, less than half of the electoral votes the small states possess (Doc D). The lack of correlation shown in this example epitomizes the issues the Electoral College
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
So, rather than basing the number of the electoral votes in each state according to its number of representatives and senators, the electoral votes would be based on the percentage of the “popular vote won”. Although the proponents of this plan argue that it retains the Electoral College vigor, “the results would be closer to the national popular vote outcome” (Ross, 2004). They also argue that, “the voices of minority voting groups would be reflected in the final election tally because even ballots cast for third-party candidates could be reflected in the national results” (Ross, 2004). Thus, it is also likely to happen that a presidential candidate can win the election without winning the popular but Ross claims that, it will happen less likely than the system that we have in present
As it currently stands, the presidential democracy of the United States government is one where the people’s beliefs are generally well represented. All members of Congress are elected by the people along with the two people at the head of the executive branch. This way, the people have a lot of control over what takes place in their country. If the Constitution of the United States were to be rewritten, the removal of the electoral college should be seriously considered.
Throughout the years, there have been many qualms regarding the electoral college. Does the Electoral College properly represent the will of the American people? Is the electoral college an outdated system? Recently, these questions resurfaced as the election of 2016 resulted in the projection of Donald Trump triumphing over Hilary Clinton, even though Clinton received more popular votes at the end of the election. I believe that the Electoral College should be removed and changed to a more balanced system which reflects the needs and wants of each individual residing in America rather than society that does not account for the greater population of America in an old-fashioned system where the framers of the Constitution did not trust the American people to elect a leader worthy of the title.
In light of the recent election it is time for America to abolish the electoral college. Discuss. The results of the latest U.S. presidential elections has re-introduced some of the political issues concerning the election system. One of the main issues being discussed is the role of the long-standing Electoral College.
“The Electoral College was created by the Founders because they did not trust people enough to allow them to directly elect the president.” Since the majority of the American people had limited education and communication, the founders felt the “average voter lacked the information to be an informed, unbiased judge of candidates for presidency.” Therefore when voters cast their ballot, the college reviews the peoples’ choices and then decides which of their preferences are best. (Lenz and Holman, 87) Many people feel that this system is undemocratic because they are not able to directly vote for their candidate and because the winner of the popular vote can lose the electoral vote.
All of these are good things, but they do not outweigh the system we currently have. As the great Burt Lance said, “If it aint broke, don’t fix it.” In conclusion, the Electoral College system is essential to ensure that all states have equal representation in the election process, provide a clear winner, make sure that the President and Vice President are elected by most of the country, and are elected by a diverse group of people. Despite the criticisms that the system has received, we should maintain the Electoral College system to ensure that our democracy is fair, representative, and
(Black, 2012) So, while it is clear that the Electoral College was set up to ensure all states have a voice, it now seems to have the ability to take away the voice of the people. It is necessary to look at our voting process and make the necessary changes needed to ensure the process of electing our President represents the voice of the people. By switching to a majority vote we ensure that the voice of all people are not only heard, but are represented equally, which is how it should be under the one-person, one-vote
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