Essay On Electoral College

1022 Words5 Pages

Majority Rules (Or Does It?)
128,838,341. That is the amount of votes cast in the 2016 election. 2,868,691 is the amount that Clinton had over Trump in the popular vote, while Trump carried 306 of the total electoral votes (2016 Presidential Election). This discrepancy has occurred four other times over the course of American elections. It is apparent that there is an issue with how our leader is selected and how votes really impact the future. How popular vote would work, why implementing it would be difficult, and whether or not it is the best option are all very important aspects that will be explored in this essay.
On the first Tuesday of November in the years divisible by four the people of the United States gather and head to the polls …show more content…

Over the course of its existence the college has been amended “more than 700 times (Rudalevige).” This shows the immense dissatisfaction with the current state of the electoral college. The popular vote is more beneficial than the electoral college because it encourages more people to get involved, as opposed to simply standing by and not voting because they feel that silence and voting are equivalents. A popular vote would guarantee that each person voting gets a direct say in what happens as opposed to the current system. For example, all the people living in Wyoming during the 2016 election only gained 3 electoral college votes, but each of their votes were “worth 2.87 California voters in terms of her individual share of her respective state’s electoral votes (Rudalevige).” This shows the problem with the electoral college and the way that it represents the people who are participating. Also nothing stops the electorates from voting their own preference as opposed to voting on behalf of their constituents. These difficulties that arise from popular vote would be the main difficulties in transferring from electoral to popular vote, but would be worth the hassle. More people would be represented, it would increase involvement, the nominees would not focus on the swing-states, and it would also yield faster