Electoral College Be Abolished Dbq

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When you go and vote for president, do you think your vote goes toward the decision of who becomes president? If you do, think again because the system is not as clear cut as it seems. In 1787 during the Constitutional Convention, the delegates discussed a way to vote for president without having the passions of the people and average voters getting in the way. The Electoral College has 538 members total which are divided among states, with each state receiving the amount of electoral votes that corresponds with their population. The outdated system known as the Electoral College, should officially be abolished from the process of the presidential election in the United States. Throughout the election process under the Electoral College, the …show more content…

The 538 members in the electoral body who are supposed to represent their districts, are mostly biased when it comes to voting for the president of the United States. Typically when the whole group of electors gather to vote for president and vice president, they “are loyal to their political party and pledge to vote for their party’s nominees” (Source C). The fact that the decision of who becomes president is put in the hand of only several hundred electors who are biased is unjustified, as their votes are biased and not impartial. Since the electors pledge to vote for the party that elect them into that position and have laws where they can’t go against their pledge, this allows for a political party to rig the system to garner an outcome that only benefits themselves. This political feature in the United States disregards the opinions of hundreds of millions of citizen’s votes, and abides by the votes of 538 intransigent electors. In this modern era of presidential elections,“the Electoral College ignores the will of the people. There are over 300 million people in the United States, but just 538 people decide who will be president” (Source D). In a country that globalized democracy, the nation itself is now letting the voices of hundreds overshadow the voices of hundreds of millions. Every four …show more content…

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. Even if someone was not able to access some form of technology, when voting or near the time of voting pamphlets are given which provide information on every topic for the voter to vote on. As an effort to level the playing field between less populous states and more populous states, the Electoral College