Dbq Essay On The Electoral College

The Electoral College has been a part of the American National government ever since its beginnings, but is it the system that we should keep using? The Electoral College is made up of electors. Each state has 3 or more electors based on the amount of Senators and Representatives it has. These electors each vote for a running presidential candidate. And these votes directly determine who will become president. While this is a system that is working and has worked before, it is not entirely fair. The Electoral College has its flaws. For starters, third parties are given virtually no chance to win the electoral vote. The amount of electors for each state doesn’t give all states a fair amount of power and the electoral system as a whole undermines

But third parties can also run for office. And while these extra parties can run for president, they have an extremely low chance of winning. Thanks to the Electoral College. In the 1992 Presidential Election, candidates Bill Clinton (Democrat), George H.W. Bush (Republican), and Ross Perot (Independent) all ran for office. Clinton won 43% of the popular vote, Bush won 37.5% and Perot won 18.9%. However, when it came to the electoral vote, Clinton won 69% and Bush won 31% while Perot got 0% (Doc B). Candidates in third parties rarely ever win to become president and sometimes even get no electoral votes at all. Many of these smaller parties are often overshadowed by the bigger main two, Democrats and Republicans, leaving no room for other independent ideas or opinions. As Geroge Will states, “The system bolsters the two party-system by discouraging independent candidacies…” (Doc E). Other parties continue to be almost disregarded and pushed out of presidency to the fault of the Electoral College. Third parties introduce new ideas and perspectives that are important and should be heard but the electoral system continues to put people from the main two parties as president and discourage those from the extra, additional ones. Causing people to turn a blind eye to these smaller, lesser known minor

The amount of Electors for a state are found by adding up that states senators and representatives. This method is not fair at all and makes it so smaller states' votes matter more. Add up the electoral votes for the District of Columbia and the electoral votes for 12 of the smallest states, you’ll get 44 Electoral College votes with a population of about 12.5 million. But compared to Illinois that has a population of about 12.8 million, that state only has 20 Electoral College votes (Doc D). This system clearly favors small states. It causes them to matter more and get more votes which is unfair. This is restated by George C. Edwards, ”The Electoral College violates political equality. It is not a neutral counting device...” (Doc D). This system was set in place to give all states an equal voice and it fails to do so. Smaller states are greatly favored by The Electoral College which is unjust. It shows a clear amount of bias which goes against The Electoral College’s point of equality and correctness. It directly undermines bigger states and stops democracy from being fully