Essay On The Electoral College Should Be Abolished

In an attempt to change the Articles of Confederation, the Convention created the executive branch to unite the country with a single leader. Even though the delegates wanted to consider the wishes of the citizens, they did not trust that they would make an educated decision. As a result, they formed the Electoral College. The Electoral College consists of 538 electors who indirectly elect the president and vice president. Each states’ entitlement of electors is equal to the sum number of their senators and representatives. State legislature is given the power by the Constitution to decide how electors are chosen. Often, the legislature allows political parties or candidates to appoint the electors. Each elector casts one vote for president and one for vice president. Almost every state has the winner-take-all method that awards all votes to the winning candidate. However, the electors are not required to vote the way the people instruct them to. To elect the president, the candidate must receive a majority, 270, of the electoral votes. In the case of a tie in the

Some argue that the Electoral College supports our democracy: “...the Electoral College makes sure that the states count in presidential elections. As such, it is an important part of our federalist system - a system worth preserving” (Doc. C). In this quote, John Samples argues that federalism is important to our nation and this system supports it by giving power to each state. However, the Electoral College was originally founded because the delegates did not believe that the people were educated enough to make a good choice. Therefore, the power lies with the electors of each state. Even though the debate over the Electoral College will continue, it is clear that it should be abolished because it does not represent the