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Should Electoral College Be Abolished Research Paper

812 Words4 Pages

The debate over whether the Electoral College should be abolished has been going on for years. The Electoral College has decided who’s the president for around 200 years. The system is outdated and outdated. The Electoral College works by having each state vote for the party they want. Each state has an amount of electoral votes and a candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win. 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 …show more content…

Based on the population of a state, there are more open slots for members in the House of Representatives, meaning those states receive more electoral votes based on the number of members. The amount of House of Representatives isn’t equal to the amount of people in a state. This ends up with states having fewer members and therefore fewer votes. In the chart “Comparison of Population and Electoral Votes.” It shows that Illinois has 20 electoral votes because of their population and more House of Representatives members (18). Illinois has a population of 12 million but because every state has 3 electoral votes, 12 states + D.C. has 12 million people but 44 votes. The Electoral College gives smaller states considerably more power because they have a large amount of votes for their population. In the chart it also shows how disproportionate the population is to the amount of votes. The 12 states + D.C., is again, 12 million people with 44 votes and Illinois has that same number of people but with 20 votes. In Illinois an electoral vote is worth 600,000 people, and the 12 states + D.C. a vote would be worth about 270,000. The Electoral College system gives small states an unfair advantage in the election as it’s easier to win 2 states with a …show more content…

Some may believe the Electoral College shouldn’t be abolished because it keeps extreme politics away from the election, and that’s true, there’s evidence that supports that. In “Securing Democracy: Why We Have an Electoral College.” The author states, “Though it may never have functioned as intended, the Electoral College has been the linchpin of American political prosperity. It has formed our political parties, moderated our more extreme elements...” (McConnell) McConnell, a former senator, states the Electoral College formed the major parties we have and moderated extreme elements in politics. While that’s important and good, it doesn’t change that it gives power to small states, and a long time ago thinking slavery was bad was an extreme political view. Having strong political parties is good, but it stops new parties from coming up and having a chance in the election because of the Electoral

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