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Merits and demerits of electoral college
Electoral College Pros and Cons
Merits of electoral college
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The electoral college is a process the founding fathers established in the constitution with the intent to create a safeguard between the population and the selection of a president, and to give extra power to smaller states. However, based on the information presented in the articles the electoral college should be abolished as it violates our right of political equality, and fails to represent a third, independent, party in any election. Although there are many reasons to abolish the electoral college, the principal reason to take action would be the result of an obvious violation of our right to be politically equal. As shown in the chart provided (Doc D) 12 of the lowest populated states and the District of Columbia have almost the
The opposers of the Electoral College would argue that because of the “winner-takes-all” nature of these states, “candidates don't spend time in states they know they have no chance of winning, focusing only on the tight races in the ‘swing’ states,” in the words of Bradford Plumer from Source 2. Though this can be true, people fail to realize that those swing states are toss-ups in the presidential election because they feature differing interests and a wide array of voters that candidates must appeal to to succeed. Because the Electoral College gives votes to smaller and bigger states, it also guarantees that less populous states still have a say in who runs our country. And while they do have fewer votes than the larger states with millions of more overall voters, this system prevents the smaller regions from being completely unrepresented. It also ensures that candidates campaign around the country, not just in the few big states with substantial populations, since no singular area of the United States has enough votes to win the election for a nominee, as described in Source
It gives the smaller states a voice, that could have been ignored if the popular vote only counted. The Electoral College helps the candidates and their party keep their campaign organized, if the they know the amount of votes they are looking for they can organize how much time they spend campaigning in each state (Advantages and Disadvantages of the Electoral College). Also helps keep a sense of stability, but setting up a 2 party system of voting, and also gives the states to make their own laws on voting and being able to make amendments accordingly (Advantages and Disadvantages of Electoral College). The Electoral College also helps avoid the chance of fraud occurring or national recounts (Advantages and Disadvantages of the Electoral College). Even though the system has many advantages it also has many disadvantages as
The electoral college can either be abolished or changed. With it being abolished all the power would go straight the American citizens, if changed it will allow the smaller states to have a say. By changing the electoral college system it will allow representatives of the people, smaller states
In the Electoral College, each state gets a number of electors based on its representation in Congress. The Electoral College is the best method for electing a president for the country right now. The first reason the Electoral College is best, is that it ensures that all parts of the country are involved in the
Another con of the Electoral college is that it leaves many unrepresented for. Most states are known to lean more toward a given party whether it be Democratic or Republican. Some voters who are of the opposite party might feel as if their vote is unnecessary and unimportant. A voter should not have to feel that way. To feel that because their state is mainly for another party their vote is irrelevant defeats the purpose of an election.
They would ignore the less populated areas in between. They also argue that it would be dangerous and unnecessary to replace a system that has functioned for over 200 years. Proponents of the Electoral College system defend it because they believe that the Electoral College contributes to the cohesiveness of the country by requiring a distribution of popular support to be President, enhances the status of minority interests, contributes to the political stability of the nation, and maintains a federal system of government. Proponents say that the voters of even small miniorties in a State may make the difference between winning all of the State’s electoral votes or none of the State’s electoral votes. They argue that the original design of the federal system was thought out and wisely debated.
The Electoral College aids in the protection of smaller states with lesser populations (Rotunda). “A purely popular vote would encourage some states (particularly one-party states) to change their voting requirements to increase that state’s influence nationwide” (Rotunda). Even so, the author claims that states with larger populations would want more influence in elections. Although the core of this claim is valid, it is flawed because the state majorities have more of a say in political elections, which sway the way the state votes in a national election. This actually denies the People the right to have a fair say electing a
Picture a system where your vote truly matters, every vote counts for something, and every citizen's voice is heard. This reality could be achieved by abolishing the outdated, misrepresentative, Electoral College. To understand why it should be abolished, first, we must look at the reasoning behind its creation. The founders of the Electoral College aimed to create a system where both small and large states’ interests were taken into account and voting power was not based on state size. Therefore, the Electoral College was designed as a compromise to give each state a certain number of votes based on their population size.
Smaller states are greatly favored by The Electoral College which is unjust. It shows a clear amount of bias which goes against The Electoral College’s point of equality and correctness. It directly undermines bigger states and stops democracy from being fully
Though not every state has the same amount of votes, some states are worth more than others, and their amount of votes is based on their population. Therefore, the United States should abolish the Electoral College because it gives people in smaller states more political power than those in larger states. However, some feel the U. S should not abolish the Electoral College
The Electoral College’s opponents believe that it is an unfair way of doing things because it doesn’t necessarily make every vote count, but they may not realize that it lets every state have a say. The candidate with an absolute majority in each state receives the elector’s votes, therefore it really boils down to a popular election just on a state by state basis, rather than a national one. “The proposals to abolish the Electoral College are proposals to abolish the Federal principle in presidential elections”(Best). The Electoral College has history on it’s side, the system they use really works, it is the best option we have, and it needs to be
I think we should keep the Electoral College. Electoral College is defined in our textbook as; “An unofficial term that refers to the electors who cast the states’ electoral votes” (Patterson, T.E., 2013). Electoral voting is tied in with the states popular voting. Choosing electoral college adds to the cohesiveness of the nation by obliging an appropriation of popular support to be elected President, improves the status of minority interests, contributes to the political dependability of the country by promising a two-party system, and keeps up an elected arrangement of government and representation (Kimberling, W.C., 2008). I think that the Electoral College system is a big part of the cohesiveness of our country and it requires the distribution
The electoral college also helps the small states have an opinion that actually is heard in the presidential election. In class, it was discussed that Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota together, though their combined population is less than that of Oklahoma, each of those states has three electoral votes, whereas Oklahoma just has seven votes. Going by electoral votes, a candidate would have a better chance at winning the election if they won over Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota versus Oklahoma. With the electoral college, a candidate could win over all thirty-nine small states and win the entire election. Though the candidate could be supported by less than a quarter of the population,
The debate surrounding the Electoral College is not about the College itself, but how the vote is handled by the college, and whether as a country we value the importance of every state, or the importance of every