Ever since the election involving Bush and Gore, the viability of the Electoral College has become a heatedly debated topic. The question is whether the Electoral College is still an effective system considering the conditions the United States faces today as opposed to the conditions that the Founding Fathers faced when they created it. For over one hundred and fifty years, the United States has used this system, and controversy has followed it ever since. It was created in an effort to protect the people and institution of America by putting the final vote of the presidency in the hands of a trusted and respected few. These few have the power to disregard the popular vote due to the fact that there is still no federal law demanding electors
In my own words some of the pros and cons of the Electoral College are as followed and explained. My pros are that it maintains the federalist system, and allows for minority interests to be represented. It helps maintain the federalist system by keeping all of the branches of government equal. It helps allow for minority interests to be represented by helping the interest and have the ability to be represented and backed up by bigger parties to help get votes. My cons of the Electoral College are that is does not reflect the popular vote, and lowers voter turnout. The way is doesn’t reflect popular vote is because people think that their vote doesn’t matter to the voting of the president. The way it lowers the turnout is because it makes
The Electoral College requires a presidential candidate to have trans-regional appeal. Trans-regional appeal is when a presidential candidate tries to appeal to all or more than one region. No region has enough electoral votes to elect a president. For example, “So a solid regional favorite, such as Romney was in the South, has no incentive to campaign heavily in those states, for he gains no electoral votes by increasing his popularity in states that he knows he will.” The Electoral College makes it so that presidential candidates have to campaign in more than one region to get more support. This way many states get to see the candidate and get to hear from them.
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. The amount of influence a state has on the election depends on how many districts it has, and a district is determined by population. The more people in a state the more powerful that state is on election day. This is because one candidate can win the popular vote by a landslide but if the opposing candidate wins key overall state votes he or she would win. Many people do not agree with the way the United States elects the president. Some believe it should be abolished
The year of 1876 was and will probably be forever known as the most disputed election in the American history of elections. There was a lot of violence, discrimination and unjust results during the election of 1876-1877. The electoral commission was developed due to circumstances the election caused. Samuel J. Tilden had outpolled Rutherford B. Hayes in the popular vote, but due to the twenty uncounted electoral votes, there was a compromise and Hayes was elected President. The results of the election could and would have been different if the popular votes were considered in the decision of the presidency in the year of 1876. The Electoral Commision should altogether be abolished or if the chance came, modified, because of the following reasons,
Since the inception of our constitution in 1787, there has only been 4 elections where the Electoral College has allowed the future president-elect candidate to win the election, despite losing the popular vote. 4/57 elections is probably something that political scientists don’t lose sleep over, but it is a topic that is worth mentioning and discussing, especially after the controversial presidential election in 2000. From my point of view, I believe that the method we use in selecting our presidents is flawed and ineffective for a couple of reasons. First, the Electoral College has far fewer votes than the American people, yet their vote has a lot more meaning. With 538 delegates representing the Electoral College, it is unfair and inequitable to the millions of people who devote their time and energy to stand in long
For many years, America’s voting system has been criticized, with the main point of interest being the Electoral College. Some say that the Electoral College is necessary to streamline and simplify the voting process, while others say that it is outdated and takes away power from American citizens. After investigating the subject, it is clear that the Electoral College should be abolished due to the three major defects its critics find in the system; its undemocratic nature, its tendency to give small states’ votes too much power, and its disastrous effects on third-party candidates.
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
The Electoral College was crafted in 1787. Since then, people have tried to amend the Electoral College, but have not succeeded. Therefore, the Electoral College should be eradicated. For example, the recent election was full of problems. When Donald Trump won the presidency, many citizens of the United States could not believe it. Many people blamed the Electoral College. People said that the Electoral College had false numbers put into Donald Trump’s electoral votes. It was either the false numbers or the Electoral votes were counted wrong. Countless numbers of people asked for recounts because they declared that the Electoral College was “in favor for Donald Trump”. Citizens were also complaining that Donald Trump did not win the popular vote and Hillary Clinton did so she should have won the presidency. The problems would not have been said in the first place if the Electoral College was gone and another system replaced it.
I believe that we should not have an electoral college and depend on them. There are numerous reasons why I think this. It does not allow us to have a fair way to vote and it doesnt let everyone be heard.
The next election for president and vice president is in the year 2016. Starting now, people will start to gather information and facts about each candidate. Through this, political opinions will be formed about the candidates and their planned actions as president and vice president. Then, on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, the public will vote for their favorite candidate. However, people will vote for the candidates indirectly through a buffer; the Electoral College. Concerns about the Electoral College will be raised once again, and the question of whether or not it should be abolished will need to be addressed.
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
The first article's main point is that the United States of America should not get rid of the electoral college, but do away with the popular vote instead. The popular vote does not pick the president, it merely choosing which party of electors will be able to cast their votes towards their candidate. The article also said that instead of the electors for each state be the state's senators and representatives, they should be people of that state, decided by a lottery held before the election day.
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 longstanding organization in place in the United States of America that was originally established by the Founding Fathers in create equality in presidential elections has become a topic of harsh criticism and controversy over the years.