An Essay On The Electoral College

Kaylynn Riley

Government 4B

Baker

3/1/23

The Electoral College

Voting is what makes the United States of America unique. It is the one thing that can divide and bring together the nation. There are many ways and methods Americans can vote. The electoral college is the best way to vote. This voting system promotes all parts of the country are involved in selecting the president. It protects the voices of the minority from being overwhelmed and can give certainty to presidential elections.

First, the Electoral College ensures that that all parts of the country are involved in selecting the President. This system has a national focused campaign. “To win the election, presidential candidates need electoral votes from multiple regions and therefore

This system makes a safeguard around our votes. “Using electors instead of the popular vote was intended to safeguard the presidential election against uninformed or uneducated voters by putting the final decision in the hands of electors who were most likely to possess the information necessary to make the best decision in a time when news was not widely disseminated.” (Electoral College). The Electoral College gives voters peace of mind because they know the electors are educated on what they want and will vote accordingly. Some may say the popular vote is better in this situation because it gives each vote an equal amount of power and it would eliminate the threat of a faithless elector. This may be true but popular vote during a close election would trigger the need for a full recount and would require an Amendment in the U.S. Constitution for Presidential elections. The Electoral College is not perfect but will never fail. “The Electoral College is if not perfect, it is at least excellent, because it ensured that 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.” (Hamilton). Even though the Electoral College isn’t perfect, it was set up in a way that would work to make voting

This system ensures there is a clear winner. “There is pressure for runoff elections when no candidate wins a majority of the votes cast; that pressure, which would greatly complicate the presidential election process, is reduced by the Electoral College, which invariably produces a clear winner.” (Electoral college). The Electoral College method unlike other voting methods will clearly have a winner. Some may say the district method is better because votes are distributed based on the popular vote winner within each of the state’s congressional districts and statewide popular vote winner receives two additional electoral votes. This may be true, but in this method, candidates might only spend time in certain battleground districts instead of the entire state and there is a possibility of Gerrymandering. The Electoral College will also resolve ties. “This happened with President Nixon in 1968 and President Clinton in 1992, when both men won the most electoral votes while receiving just 43% of the popular vote. The existence of the Electoral College precluded calls for recounts or demands for run-off elections.” When in the possibility of a tie, the Electoral College is ready with the decision to recount to get a clear