Certain philosophies of the Electoral College infringe on the democracy that the United States of America stands for; however, the Electoral College was put in place by the Founding Fathers for a reason, and under the Constitution that reason should be respected. American Democracy suffers under the overbearing nature of this voting system, but it is a fact that a pure democracy would never work. Under this system, there would always be an inferior minority. Reforming the system is a solution to this problem of whether or not the Electoral College should continue or cease to exist. There should still be a system of electors, but instead of the warped winner-take-all system, the votes should be given proportionally to the popular vote. This …show more content…
Creating the Electoral College system proved trying because “the Founders struggled to satisfy each state’s demand for greater representation while attempting to balance popular sovereignty against the risk posed to the minority from majoritarian rule” (Destroying the Electoral College: The Anti-Federalist National Popular Vote Scheme). They overcame these difficulties and tried to satisfy both small and large states. The disagreement that paved the way for the Electoral College was whether Congress should choose the president or if the masses should vote. In the end, the three reasons for which the Electoral College was created were: to “work without political parties, cover both the nominating and electing phases of presidential selection, and produce a nonpartisan president” (American Government: Roots and Reform, O’Connor, Yanus, and Sabato). These essential rationales prove that the Electoral College cannot be done away with by amending the …show more content…
A democracy is not democratic if the people feel as though their opinions do not matter. The existing Electoral College system oppresses the people by making them believe their votes do not count. A democratic government should not allow the popular vote in a presidential election to be overshadowed by electoral votes. For example, some larger states with more electoral votes tend to side with either the Republican or Democratic party; therefore, if republicans who live within a heavily democratic state, such as Massachusetts or California, then they feel their votes are irrelevant. In recent elections, the voter turnout hovered around 60% (FairVote, www.fairvote.org). Specifically in this past 2016 election, 131,375,500 voters out of an eligible 218,959,000 completed their civic duty and utilized their ability to vote (Voting Turnout Statistics, Statistic Brain, www.statisticbrain.com). The fact that eligible voters do not feel obliged to use the right so graciously given to them by those who fought for their right to vote proves that there is a flaw in the system. This flaw is the winner-take-all clause. A state that is almost fifty-fifty in the popular vote with one party pulling ahead should not award every single electoral vote to that one candidate. This system allows for a nation to be divided, and only one side to heavily prevail. A proposed solution to
For as long as American citizens can remember the assigned method of election for the United States presidency would be the use of the Electoral College. The Electoral College is a process not a place or institution, in this essay I will briefly describe the Electoral College process as well as describe some pros and cons of the electoral college and lastly, I will attempt to answer the controversial question, if you could improve the electoral college, would I choose to abolish or reform the system?
Despite the Electoral College system being founded by the founding fathers in America and being there as long as the Constitution exists, many people still do not have sufficient knowledge on how it works. The Electoral College does not provide honest presidential elections rather it has the potential to undo the will of people at any point from the selection of electors to the vote tallying in Congress (Shaw, 3). Electoral College in the United States has played a major role in depressing the voter's turnout. Every State is given an equal number of electoral votes despite the population and in turn, the system has put in place no measure to encourage the voters to take part in the elections. Besides, the system distorts
The Electoral College is an excuse of the electoral process, proving itself to be undemocratic, false in representation, and harmful to third-parties. Therefore, the Electoral College should be abolished, and the process should rely on the popular vote to have the leading judgement in the election procedure for a new president. The Electoral College has proven that a candidate may not need to win the popular vote of the people of the nation in order to win the presidential election. But first, beforehand, let me introduce the system in which the Electoral Process is based upon. The Electoral Process is the government’s created system of indirect voting in order to elect the nation’s president.
Most states are always republican or democratic in the way they vote. So the amount of votes is already in favor of one candidate or another before voting actually arrives.(Document 7). Since the candidates are always insured a certain number of votes, the candidates only have to worry about “swing states” or states that change their decisions every election. Since the non-swing states never decide in favor of one candidate or the other by themselves the power to elect a new president resides with whom the citizens of swing states vote for. Without an electoral college, each citizen's vote would be worth more and everyone could help determine a new president instead of the select few who are living in “swing states.” All of these reasons help to make it clear that the electoral college is a corrupt
The voting process in America appears straightforward, but it is a very complex, complicated system. The Electoral College is America’s current voting system. The Electoral College still serves its intended purpose, but with increasing political activity among Americans it has caused a need to reform this process. Research suggests that the Electoral College system should be amended because it poorly illustrates democracy, is outdated and the majority of Americans are in favor of abolishing the system.
The Electoral College does not create the democracy that the framers were so adamant about creating. With the Electoral College the Electors look at the results of the popular vote in their state but even then they decide whether or not to follow it. Even though the electoral college hasn’t matched the popular vote only 5 times in history, having the college does not give the authentic
In the “Point: Abolishing the Electoral College,” Benjamin Bolinger, a licensed lawyer who can practice law in Colorado and Pennsylvania, argues that the Electoral College needs to be abolished for the American democracy. Bolinger examines that some states with a little population have large number of electoral college compare to those states with larger populations. He believes that the Electoral College damages the value of democratic government by leaving
The electoral college has been a major part of the American political system since its founding. This was first brought into question while the founding fathers were discussing the Constitution and the manner in which a president is to be elected. Thus, the Electoral College of the US was introduced. The requirements for the proper setup and execution of the electoral college is that every state has at least three representatives between two Senators and one Representative based on population which translate into the number of electoral votes. While using the college, forty eight states have the winner take all system where the candidate who has the most votes will get all of the votes from said state. This is one of many reasons to why the US needs to protect the establishment of the Electoral College. The main focal areas to why the Electoral College is a beneficial aspect of the political system is the ability to change with the people of the nation, the rapid pace to which the results are given to the public, as well as incorporating and
The United States is established by democracy and the will of the general population, yet in the 2000 and 2016 elections, the majority of citizens in the United States voted in favor of the losing candidate. These outcomes are on the grounds that the decision of the President in the United States hangs solely on the Electoral College. The Electoral College is obsolete and should be abrogated for different reasons. The original purposes behind embracing the Electoral College were tailored to the time of its creation and never again apply in a modern democracy. Additionally, the Electoral College prompts political imbalance as the instances of federalism, unexpected elections, and the winner-take-all broad ticket framework demonstrates. One must
The United States, well known for its democracy, holds elections every four years to elect its President. Every American citizen over the age of 18 has a right to cast a vote in the presidential election. The voting process, although it seems easy and straightforward, can be very complicated. In the 2000 election, Al Gore captured the majority of votes, but George Bush won. The reason for this strange outcome and why Al Gore lost was because of the Electoral College. The Electoral College is voting system where different states are given a certain amount of votes in the election, and which ever candidate wins a state, is given that state’s votes. The Electoral College is out of date, and should be replaced by the Popular Vote system,
How would you feel if your vote essentially counted for nothing in a general election, especially if that election was for President of the United States? Well it appears to be that way with the way electors are the number one most important group of voters in any presidential election. In America, a national popular vote would clearly prevent problems such as fraud in the Electoral College. In our Nation’s history, there have been countless stories of backroom deals and fraudulent voting. Thereis a long and colorful history of botched elections and ignorance of the people’s choices in and for the highest elected official in our country. The Electoral College of United states is in dire need of reform. The people of our great nation need a say in the system that makes us the most American. Our right to pick our representatives. There is no excuse for the massive amount of mistakes that are made election after election. As a nation, the people must take action to change the system.
“While imperfect, the electoral college has generally served the republic well. It forces candidates to campaign in a variety of closely contested races, where political debate is typically robust,” William M. Daley former chief of staff at the white house. What Daley is talking about is the system by which we elect the President of the United States and other officials. The officials serve in the three branches of government judicial, legislative, and the executive. The executive branch is the one that will be focused on in this paper. The President is elected normally every four years by voting of the people and a group of electors who are not in Congress. Some people say that the electoral college is an outdated system and should be abolished. While this may be true the system does work and is still a viable system in this day and age. The U.S. electoral college does not need to be reformed
When the Electoral College was put in place as part of the voting process it seemed a good idea. “Our framers distrusted democracy and saw the Electoral College as a deliberative body able to correct bad choices made by the people.” (Anderson 519). Times have changed and today’s society is a lot different that it was when George Washington was President. It’s about time that the U.S eliminates the Electoral College and makes America more of a democracy by making the popular vote the deciding factor in electing the president.
The electoral college is one of the most controversial parts of the presidential election process. It was implemented in the Constitution to ensure the most qualified people choose the president and “to defend the interests of individual smaller states” (Friedman, 2016). Since its inception, however, it has remained relatively unaltered despite having been the topic of over 700 congressional proposals (Federal Register). Many parties oppose this process’ usefulness. The American Bar Association, for example, has called it “‘archaic’ and ‘ambiguous’” (Federal Register). The electoral college should be abolished in its current state due to its inefficiency in representing both the general will of the people and the will of the individual.
The United States is globally recognized as a democratic nation, granting voting rights to its citizens that place the power of government in their hands. This power is held dear by U.S. citizens nationwide, as well as other nations who strive for democracy and recognition. Unfortunately, this universally recognized right is quite erroneous. The United States uses a system called the Electoral College to elect the President and Vice President. This system consists of 538 electors that choose the President for the people – nullifying the concept of democracy. Therefore, the United States should abandon the Electoral College system for Presidential elections because it places the power of government in the hands or politicians and political machines, while revoking power from the hands of the citizens – from the hands of the people.