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Electoral College Flaws

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America was molded by a group of individuals who felt that their voice was being drowned out by a tyrannical monarchy. After the revolution, this was resolved by creating a system that attempted to allow all people to have a say in the country’s government. The Electoral College was established as a representative way for the citizens of America to elect a leader; however, many are not satisfied with the results. A growing number of Americans would rather have a direct popular vote than the Electoral College. This disparity comes from believing that the current system is not democratic and prevents each vote from being viewed equally. The Electoral College needs to be changed because it misrepresents the opinions of the people, dismisses …show more content…

Another innate flaw in the Electoral College is it “damages the chances of third-party candidates [to make] a serious bid for the White House because such candidates rarely gain enough voter support to win entire states” (Newton and Rich, “Point: Electoral College”). Despite this, the presence of third party candidates can tip the popular vote in individual states, therefore affecting the total outcome of the election due to the “winner-takes-all” allocation of electoral votes. Such was the case with Ralph Nader, a Green Party presidential candidate, whose 1.6% of the popular vote in Florida was one of the factors that “shifted the state from Democratic nominee Al Gore to Republican George W. Bush” (Black, Minnpost). It is cases like these that hurt the overall case for third-party candidates, whose attempts to achieve office get dismissed by the general American public and other political parties. In the months surrounding the 2012 election, Republican campaign aides and officials were attempting to prevent Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson’s place on ballots out of fear that his presence would steal votes from Mitt Romney, the Republican Party candidate (Rutenberg, NYTimes). Practices like these show how the Electoral College indirectly allows the reduction of third-party candidates to ballot obstacles instead of legitimate contenders with valid ideas that could …show more content…

Presidential candidates will only seriously campaign in the 10-15 “swing” states where it is possible to persuade the vote (Liptak, NYTimes). These candidates do not show much campaigning effort toward “stalwart liberal states such as California and Massachusetts, or staunchly conservative states like South Carolina and Texas” either because “they know they have no chance of winning in the state or because they take for granted that they will win it” (Newton and Rich, “Point: Electoral College”). However, this attitude leads to indifferent voters. In 2008, 67% of the voter turnout was from the 15 states that received the most campaigning attention, which was six points higher than the turnout in the other 35 states (Liptak, NYTimes). Not only does this campaigning style diminish voter turnout, but it also causes candidates to cater their platform around what would benefit “swing” states rather than the nation as a whole. A candidate who needs Iowa’s electoral votes in order to win the election will have a platform that features ethanol subsides and agriculture-friendly policies, while a candidate’s platform who needs Florida’s votes will neglect to mention a cut in Medicare spending (Black, Minnpost). The way that candidates choose to campaign is a direct result from attempting to work the system in an effort to obtain as many electoral votes as possible, despite the

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The existence of the Electoral College has remained a source of debate for the population of the United States for centuries. Despite the evident discontent surrounding it, the United States is largely unaware of the disconnect between citizens’ voices and the Presidency. It can be said that popular sovereignty, no matter how pleasant a concept, has become little more than an illusion the people cling to. In short, the Electoral College is an institution that must be abolished, because it violates political equality, is unfair to third party candidates, and is not an accurate representation of the people’s votes.

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This shows that many voters feel that it is time for a change in the United State’s voting system. The Electoral College only reflects the candidate that wins the most votes per state (Kimberling). With a direct popular vote, it will reflect each voter’s opinion. The article, “Origins of the Electoral College, this states that, "the Electoral College was designed by men who did not want the election of the president to be left to the people…” (Holcombe).

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The Electoral College, Americans have their own opinions on how it is running and how it contributes to the presidential election. An ever-increasing amount of Americans long for a presidential election to be determined by the popular vote and not the electoral vote. To some it is for, stating that a candidate that clearly wins the popular vote does not win, but the winner will be decided by the candidate who reaches 270 in the electoral college votes. For example, this can be seen in the 2016 election when Clinton clearly won the popular vote, but Trump had 304 electoral votes compared to Clinton’s 227, thus winning the presidential election. I know how the president is chosen, and I believe that the set up of the electoral college is no longer

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(Josephson, 2016) On the other hand, the idea that people avoid third-party candidates and choose between the major two-party system may discourage voters from going to the polls. Augments against the Electoral College say “It makes it very hard for a third party to break through at the national level and increases the risk that a third party could spoil a candidate’s chance of winning, which in turn discourages people from voting for third-party candidates.” (Josephson, 2016) Voters from every state whether large or small should feel confident that their vote

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Across the landscape of American history, elections have become a hallmark from which we draw legitimacy and secure our liberties. However, as time has progressed, our institutions have adopted practices that many have called into question. One of such practices is the act of frontloading, simply stated, frontloading is when states set their primaries early in the election season to try and influence the course of the subsequent voting as much as possible. Although many argue this practice gives states like Iowa and New Hampshire opportunity for relevance on a national stage, the detractors of this practice cite many of its glaring flaws. By allowing for frontloading both political parties seriously jeopardize their abilities to allow every candidate have a fair shot at victory, this practice supports big money candidates, subtly influences the course of the national dialogue and actively suppresses voter turnout.

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The presidential election in 2000 was between George W. Bush and Al Gore Jr. When Gore lost to Bush in Florida he demanded a hand count. The state of Florida discounted 175,000 ballots that were cast “improperly.” Those ballots mostly came from African- American districts. After Gore discovered that some ballots “were disqualified for ‘over votes,’ selecting too many candidates, while others had incomplete punches,” (108), he went to the Florida State Supreme Court to review the “undercounted” ballots.

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Several years after the United States came to be, the Constitutional Convention met to determine how the new nation should govern itself. The delegates saw that it was crucial to have a president and vice president, but the delegates did not want these offices to reflect how the colonies were treated under the British rule. The delegates believed that the president’s power should be limited, and that he should be chosen through the system known as the Electoral College. The Electoral College is a body of people who represent the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the electing of the president and vice president. Many citizens feel that the Electoral College goes against our nation’s principle of representative democracy, while others

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Even though there have been immediate reactions by the opponents of the Electoral College demanding its abolition , it is unlikely that such major change is about to happen. Looking back to history, it has been very difficult to get the necessary support in the Congress in order to try to change the traditional

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Robert Montgomery Mr. Bowers Comp I November A Failed System In America, where we idealize democracy and the voice of the people, we have a system in place to elect our highest official that not only suppresses millions of voters but also flies blatantly in the face of democracy. The Electoral College is the institution that has decided on the outcome of dozens of presidential elections. It is a system that was flawed when it was implemented just over 200 years ago, and in the modern era, it has outrightly failed. Under the College, the states do not have equal pull in the election due to many factors.

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A sad truth comes to light as the results of a tight race for the next president starts to roll in. The truth is that the dysfunctional system that demonstrates the whole voting process takes the future of America 's leader, the one who will set many precedents and lessons for future generations to come, into the hands of former politicians and notable political figures, who take on the careless and unnecessary role of an elector. These electors are part of a voting system called the Electoral College. The Electoral College is a group of 538 people that are elected at state conventions to officially vote for the next presidential candidate based on each state 's popular vote. This structure is old and should be banned for several reasons.

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