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 Is the electoral college an outdated system?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 founding father Alexander Hamilton’s words in favor of and regarding the implementation of the Electoral College in the Federalist No 68, he says, “… the office of President will never fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications.”
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First, the amount of Electoral College votes would become proportionate to the number of citizens within a state in a 1:1 ratio to reflect the outcome of the popular vote. This can be done by using the Congressional District Method used in Nebraska and Maine, (http://news.psu.edu/) where the states follow the popular vote within their districts, as opposed to a statewide popular vote. Then, the districts tally their votes to properly give a number of Electoral votes, in turn separating each electoral vote by candidate and changing the system so it does not reflect that of a winner-take-all scenario, but that of a split Electoral College
I think we should keep the Electoral College. Electoral College is defined in our textbook as; “An unofficial term that refers to the electors who cast the states’ electoral votes” (Patterson, T.E., 2013). Electoral voting is tied in with the states popular voting. Choosing electoral college adds to the cohesiveness of the nation by obliging an appropriation of popular support to be elected President, improves the status of minority interests, contributes to the political dependability of the country by promising a two-party system, and keeps up an elected arrangement of government and representation (Kimberling, W.C., 2008). I think that the Electoral College system is a big part of the cohesiveness of our country and it requires the distribution
On document C, the text says, “It is designed to promote good government and legislation that forwards the common good of a large and diverse nation” (Document C), “It has formed our political parties, moderated our more extreme elements and forged the presidential campaigns that have given direction to our ship of state” (Document C). This here explains that the Electoral College is designed to promote good government and legislation to progress from our distinct nation. This comes to the closure of that the Founding Fathers created this for the common good of our nation and it promotes many elements that shape America as we see it
Should the Electoral College be replaced with a direct national election? In order to understand this question, we must first understand what the Electoral College and a direct national election are. The Electoral College is basically a body of people representing the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the election of the president and vice president. This group of people is made up of 538 electors who are chosen or appointed by a larger group and a majority of 270 votes by these people are required to elect a president or vice president.
Hamilton and the other founders came up with this idea to protect the country. This allows for educated political leaders in the House of Representatives and the Senate to decide on an educated and qualified leader to become President (Pavia, 2011). The founding fathers were knowledgeable enough to know that rulers could opinionate citizens to cast their votes for them with the use of manipulation. It was originally designed as individuals voting not for their president, but for whom they can trust to be their local elector and cast the educated vote for presidency. In more recent times with the same general background, citizens vote using the popular vote while the Electoral College leaders choose their votes after seeing what their state decided
Arthur Schlesinger also wrote, “It (The abolition of the Electoral College) would encourage single-issue ideologues and eccentric millionaires to jump into president contests” (Document E). This is only an excuse made by those who support the traditions of the government because they do not want a new candidate with modern ideas for the United States government. Not only is this not a correct representation of the citizens’ votes, but also if it is sent to the House of
What is the Electoral College? The Electoral College is a system in which the president and vice president are chosen indirectly, alternatively, having them chosen by the direct popular vote of the people. Through the Electoral College, a candidate must receive a majority of the electoral votes to be declared president. If neither candidate obtains a majority, the US House of Representatives selects the president from the top three contenders. There are many positives and negatives regarding this system of government and after researching and analyzing this topic, I was able to take a stance on whether or not the Electoral College should or should not be abolished.
The old system of electing electors to the college is still in place – and it should be. The Electoral College should not be abolished because it properly divides power - but still keeps it in the people’s hands, keeps extremists out of
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.
The United States is a government republic, with chose authorities at the elected (national), state and neighborhood levels. On a national level, the head of express, the President, is chosen in a roundabout way by the general population of each state, through an Electoral College. Today, the balloters essentially dependably vote with the well-known vote of their state. All individuals from the government council, the Congress, are straightforwardly chosen by the general population of each state. There are many chosen workplaces at the state level, each state having no less than an elective Governor and council.
A single citizen’s technically vote does not matter. At the same time it does. On the election day United States citizens do not vote for the presidential candidate directly. The votes go towards the popular vote of that particular state. Then as a state a candidate is chosen.
Hillary Clinton during the year 2000 said, “I believe strongly that in a democracy, we should respect the will of the people and to me, that means it’s time to do away with the Electoral College and move to the popular election of our president.” Yet still 16 years later, the Electoral College is still enduring. Even Donald Trump on the eve of 2012 election called it “a disaster for a democracy” in a Twitter post and complained about how it’s a “rigged” election. Why the Electoral College was created you may ask? Well, the founding fathers were scared of direct election on choosing presidency and fear that a dictator would manipulate people’s
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 also helps the small states have an opinion that actually is heard in the presidential election. In class, it was discussed that Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota together, though their combined population is less than that of Oklahoma, each of those states has three electoral votes, whereas Oklahoma just has seven votes. Going by electoral votes, a candidate would have a better chance at winning the election if they won over Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota versus Oklahoma. With the electoral college, a candidate could win over all thirty-nine small states and win the entire election. Though the candidate could be supported by less than a quarter of the population,
In 1787, years after the founding of the United States, the Constitutional Convention met to decide how the new nation would govern itself. The delegates understood that the need for a leader was necessary but still bitterly remembered how Britain abused of its power. The delegates agreed that the President and Vice President should be chosen informally and not based on the direct popular vote, thus gave birth to the Electoral College. The Electoral College is defined as “a body of people representing the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the election of the president and vice president.” Since 1787 the Electoral College has been the system for voting in the United States, but with our nation ever more changing and growing it
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