Even though the United States is supposed to be a democracy, the people do not actually elect the president directly. Instead, a group of electors from each state vote for the president through a process known as the electoral college. Through this system, a group of state-elected officials from each state, not the people, decide who wins the presidency. The number of electors a state has is relative to its population size. For example, a state with a smaller population receives less votes than a state with a greater population. 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’ …show more content…
It operates on an “all-or-nothing” or “winner-take-all” system. This means that if a candidate wins in a state, they receive all of its electoral votes. As a result of this, the voters who voted for the other candidate are ignored. “The winner-takes-all system skews the results and also makes the voting minority of each state under-represented” (“Problems with US Elections: Winner-takes-all Electoral System”). The gap of the win does not matter, so even if a person wins 51% of that state’s votes, they will still get all of that state’s electoral votes even though almost half of the state voted against them. “There is a huge payday if you win 51%+ of the vote, and no benefit if you don’t” (“Problems with US Elections: Winner-takes-all Electoral System”). Candidates who do not win in a state get nothing if they do not manage to win the majority. By ignoring most of the population’s votes, the electoral college fails to accurately represent the will of the nation as a whole. By doing this, the electoral college further discourages people from voting. The over-complicated process makes voters feel as if their votes do not actually matter or make a difference. In a survey conducted by Lydia Saad, “Sixty-three percent would abolish this unique, but sometimes controversial, mechanism for electing presidents that was devised by the framers of the Constitution”. Furthermore, “between 61% and 66% of all major party groups saying they would vote to do away with the Electoral College if they could” (Saad). Most Americans as well as politicians are ready to get rid of the extremely flawed electoral
Supporters of the Electoral College system normally promote it on the philosophical view that it contributes to the cohesiveness of the country by requiring a distribution of popular support to be elected president(which does not make any sense), it enhances the status of minority interests(which is not true), contributes to the political stability of the nation by encouraging a two-party system, and, maintains a federal system of government and representation (Bates, 2004). Under the proposed new electoral system, each candidate’s election showing would be a weighted average of his or her popular vote in 51 states , each state’s weight would be comprised of its proportion of total electoral votes as tallied by present conventions. The final score for candidates would be expressed as a
vote for president based on the popular vote of their state. The electoral college is a system that definitely needs reform but is a central part of our government. In the electoral college there can anywhere from 3 to 54 electors per state based on The State’s population. The District
Should the Electoral College Be Replaced by the Direct Election of the President? A Debate The presidency and election of the presidency is often viewed as the main focus of the American political system. In recent years the election process and Electoral College have come under scrutiny and reconsideration due to how important the election is. In this paper we will examine the two different arguments about whether or not the Electoral College is a democratic and useful system.
I. The Electoral College is an unnecessary institution that undermines democracy by not ensuring the victory of the presidential candidate who wins the plurality of the popular vote, by creating a system in which not all votes are equal, and by incentivizing politicians to focus on the needs of specific states while ignoring others. II. A. The Electoral College is a body of people that represent each state within the United States and formally cast votes for their state in the election of the president.
When the Democratic System in America was founded in 1787, it was built on the sturdy ideals of equality and fairness. The founding fathers of the constitutional convention developed the Electoral college system with the best interests of the American people in mind, as the average person was highly under-educated and they did not trust them to make a decision as important as the But over time as society and even our democracy has changed, it has become ridden with flaws and corruption especially in the electoral college and voting system. The effects of the Electoral College’s inefficiencies oppose the very ideas our democracy was built off of. Because of the over-representation of small states, the broken promises of political equality, and
The electoral college is an institution that can be found deeply rooted in the functionality of both the state and federal government. Due to this fact, calls for the abolition of the electoral college may cause for many changes to occur in these systems of government. In order to be able to decide whether or not we as a nation should update our electoral system, we must compare both the positive and negative effects that the abolition of the electoral college would have on these institutions. To start the paper, I would first bring to attention the history behind the winner-takes-all system and the intention of the states to move to this system. I would explain that the electoral college promises two electoral votes to every state, and how this disproportionately advantages smaller states.
In Wyoming, each vote is worth 187,875 people.(Doc 2). Each vote in North Carolina is worth three times more than that of Wyoming’s. This is not fair. An election that chooses the next leader of the free world should be a fair election. If the United States were to keep the electoral college system they should make every electoral vote count for the same amount of people.
Democracy within our country has been questioned and tested through our voting system. In America, our system for electing our president has remained under a process that aims to benefit our nation. By doing this, America uses the Electoral College, in which may cause disputes about the process of electing our president. Overall, there are advantages and disadvantages within the concept of winner-take all system, representing our nation as a whole, and equality of our votes. The Electoral College can be reformed to establish a more democratic voting system in order to allow for the voices of American citizens to be heard.
Nonetheless, the electoral college should be abolished because citizens’ votes should all count equally all states should get the same attention from presidential candidates, and everyone’s voice should be heard. The electoral college system ultimately fails the citizens of bigger states because their votes don’t count as much as those in smaller states. How? Well, as previously mentioned, there’s 538 electors who are distributes
In a twenty-first century environment, the Electoral College is unfair. Caroline Jenkins makes this case against the Electoral College: In testimony before Congress in 1997, the League of Women Voters pointed out that apart from the public outcry that would be caused by circumvention of the popular will, there are a number of other serious flaws in the Electoral College system. The Electoral College system is fundamentally unfair to voters. In a nation where voting rights are grounded in the one-person, one-vote principle, the Electoral College is a hopeless anachronism.
Around 6-in-10 U.S. adults (63%) say that the electoral college should be abolished and that the popular vote should be the deciding factor to see who wins the presidential election. The Electoral College should be abolished because the system itself is outdated and it would allow voters to have an equal voice in the presidential election. The electoral college should be abolished because the system itself is outdated. In 1787, the electoral college proposal was written by the founding fathers.
Each state’s electoral number is equal to its congressional delegation (Mov. 2), which is the number of members of Congress plus two for the senators. The addition of the two senators in electoral value causes the votes of a common person in different states to be unequal. In a state that has a large population, the senatorial value makes a minor difference, but in a small state such as South Dakota, this addition causes its electoral value to be tripled, as cited in Document 2, a description of the Electoral College system during the 2000 election by a Duke professor. Thus, a common vote in a smaller state is worth more electoral value—proportionally—than a common vote in a large state. Even as a supporter of the Electoral College, Document 3, an excerpt from a conservative magazine, admits this imbalance between states, citing that small states are the main advocates for the process.
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 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.
the highest popular vote in each state receives all of the electoral votes in states with a clear favorites voters often feel their vote will have no effect. Those are the disadvantages of the electoral vote but the primary disadvantage is inequalities among different states. The electoral college gives states the right to determine how electors are apportioned. The system allows each of the states the freedom to design its own laws in regards to voting and offers each the ability to effect change. Many consider the Electoral College’s negative effect on third parties to be a good thing.