From September 1st to September 17th, I asked 17 random students from the University of Texas at San Antonio if we should abolish the Electoral College. Out of my findings, I discovered that the majority of students were for the abolishment of the Electoral College. The results were relatively close with 58.82% of the respondents for abolishing the Electoral College and 41.18% for preserving it. However, there was a margin of error of 23.76%, and a 95% confidence interval of 35.06% to 82.58%. This means that out of the 17 students I surveyed at UTSA, which currently has around 29,000 students, there could be some significant error in the approval percentage that I calculated. With the margin of error and confidence interval taken into consideration, I believe my survey is not statistically significant because the margin of error is too high and the sampling size is too small. …show more content…
If the sample size of this poll was bigger, then I could have generated a statistically significant result. If I could have changed the manner in which the survey was conducted, then I would have combined all the student’s poll results to produce a more statistically significant result. I also would have asked more people outside of UTSA if the Electoral College should be abolished.
If I was to conduct this poll again, then I would change these two factors to produce more accurate results. I would have asked a lot more people from UTSA and outside of UTSA if the Electoral College should be abolished. Then I would have combined all of the student’s polls to produce a larger sample size and a better statistically significant
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
Based on the pie charts, the reader is shown that presidents that did win the popular vote, did not win by that large of a margin the Independent candidate and other major-party candidate split the votes. The Electoral College only shows a larger win ratio. Abolishing the electoral college would “...encourage single-issue ideologues and eccentric millionaires to just into presidential contests” (Document E). Although these people tend to run anyways, the electoral college is a way to ensure that the people with no political background or people that do not qualify as president will not win. The Electoral College was originally built for a world that did not have mass media and a way for people among the U.S. to communicate, but presently, the Electoral College serves as a way to ensure
Supporters of the continuation of the Electoral College assert that this institution brings forth equal importance among all states and that the voting of the president is the hands of a well educated body who will choose what is best for the country. In a letter written by Alex Hamilton to the state of New York, he praises the Electoral College in that the electoral body is composed of “men most capable of analyzing the qualities needed to be president… [and] will most likely possess the information and judgment needed for such complicated investigations” (Source A). The modern era today leaves no one uninformed especially when it comes to politics. The fact that the Electoral College wants the decision to be made by credible officials is commendable, but in the current world any civilian can access the most up to date information about presidential candidates with a click of a button. This entails that there is in fact no need for a separate party to carry out a decision for the citizens of America.
They would ignore the less populated areas in between. They also argue that it would be dangerous and unnecessary to replace a system that has functioned for over 200 years. Proponents of the Electoral College system defend it because they believe that the Electoral College contributes to the cohesiveness of the country by requiring a distribution of popular support to be President, enhances the status of minority interests, contributes to the political stability of the nation, and maintains a federal system of government. Proponents say that the voters of even small miniorties in a State may make the difference between winning all of the State’s electoral votes or none of the State’s electoral votes. They argue that the original design of the federal system was thought out and wisely debated.
Like any other method, it has come under fire from critics. The Electoral College should be replaced, as it’s a system which presents unreasonable political campaigns, calculates votes unfairly, and contradicts the democratic idea that we vote for the president. Nominees trying to become president campaign unequally; instead
Based on theses facts, the Electoral College should be abolished and replaced with a fair and just
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.
It shows that besides the Electoral College not being fair to individuals it can actually change the outcome of an election. Personally, I would like to abolish the Electoral College and rely strictly on popular vote. However, since this is not as easy as it sounds we must first take some steps to get there. I think it would be in the US’s best interest to first pass a law stating that members of the Electoral College must vote for the person who won popular vote. This would eliminate the possibility of the representatives voting for the person who did not win the vote.
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
One reason the Electoral College should be abolished is that one of the candidates could win the popular vote and still end up losing the election. On November 8th, 2016 Donald Trump was elected president because the Electoral College voted for him. Approximately thirty out of the fifty states’ electoral colleges voted for Donald Trump, he ended with 290 Electoral College votes. He had lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by about one million people because the vote of the citizens in the US has no value. The Electoral College votes are the only ones with value.
On November 6, 2012, Donald Tump tweeted from his personal twitter account that “The electoral college is a disaster for a democracy”. Four years later, he went on to win the electoral vote for presidency. His opponent had nearly three million more popular votes. The electoral college is a population based system that has decided general elections ever since the Constitution was written, often falling with the popular vote. It is strange for the electoral not to vote the way of the people, especially since there is nothing thing in the Constitution that pledges electoral votes to a candidate.
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.
As one of the most hotly debated areas of the US government, the Electoral College deserves to be given a more in-depth look. It was originally founded as a way to prevent a lack of informed voters from electing an unqualified president. Now, it still serves its original purpose, but has become far less necessary in an age of easily accessible information. Despite having some positive points, the Electoral College is too overburdened by issues like unfair vote distribution and a high failure rate to be an effective system. The way the Electoral College distributes votes is overtly favorable to less populated states.
The Votes that Should Count The United States should abolish the Electoral College, by amending the Constitution, and use the Direct Popular Vote process for presidential elections. Though the U.S. Constitution Article two, section one, clause two states that the appointment of electors belong exclusively to the states (National Conference of State Legislator), it is seemingly pointless to carry out national voting polls of the public if only electoral college votes will hold the count for the next elected president. Every three years around the United States, candidates who decide to run for the seat of presidency begin their campaign to win the votes of Americans, but for what?
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