Essay On Electoral College

517 Words3 Pages

Dating back to 1787 the Electoral College has been the number one system for selecting our president. Many people wonder why we use this method instead of the popular vote. About 225 years ago Alexander Hamilton said “A smaller number of persons selected by their fellow-citizens from the general mass, will be most likely to have the information and discernment requisite to such complicated investigations.” (3)This was true in 1787 because many of the people were uneducated and it was quite possible that they would select a president that would really threaten the federal government. To prevent this they selected educated electors to go and vote for their state. As the years have gone by there has been a shift in the way we use the electoral …show more content…

By using Electoral votes we allow Alaska, the Dakotas, and many other states that would originally get there popular vote wiped out by large states to actually cause an effect on the election. For example if a presidential candidate wins all 8 of the states with 3 electoral votes that is 24 votes, almost the same amount as Florida. By putting it into that perspective it is the fair way to distribute the votes. Another reason the Electoral College is the best way to go is because it ensures a clear victory with no tie. With 538 votes to be cast you might say that the votes could be split 269 - 269. Yes this is possible but the constitution states that in the event of a tie the Speaker of the House gets to decide who the winning candidate is. The Electoral College “maintains a federal system of government and representation,”(1) which is exactly what the constitution has laid out for us. The Electoral College is set up exactly the same way as our congress. We grant states a certain amount of representatives based on their population to have a stronger say in the House but we give them two senators so that each state also has an equal say in the Senate. By adding these together you get the electoral votes which gives each state a stronger say based on their population but at the same time each state is