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Should The Electoral College Be Abolished Dbq Essay

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The Electoral College is one of the most important systems in the United States’ elections, and a deciding factor in every general election for the presidency. Established in 1787, the College has been a system in the US for quite a while. Some people would say that it is unconstitutional, because in some elections people who didn’t even get the popular vote still won, and others say that it is a great and founding system that is integral to a fair election. In my opinion, it is a great system that is very much needed in our election process and I believe our country would be a lot different without it. As one of the most important systems in the US, it’s hard to imagine how elections would be in the absence of it. Alexander Hamilton, the founder …show more content…

One of them, however, is that smaller states use the system to vote on a more equal scale with larger states. These larger states have such a large population that if it was a direct election they would overpower it every time. The Electoral College gives the small states a chance because they won’t be so divided and they will get a fair representation in the long run. For example: California has the largest population in the US, so if it was a direct democracy they would easily win elections. With the electoral college, however, they are limited to 55 electoral votes (Document 4), which is more fair because the smaller states get represented easier and more effectively in …show more content…

Bush and Al Gore, and it was a mess. “The election was plagued with allegations of voter fraud and disenfranchisement. Rumors of illegal road blocks, unclear ballots, and uncounted votes, particularly in swing states like Missouri and Florida, were rampant” (Document #5). This document shows how controversial this election was, with everyone pointing fingers this way and that way. Florida became the key player in this election, and was the deciding point of it. It was so close in fact, that they had to call a recount to re-evaluate the votes and try and find a clear winner. It was finally won by a margin of 537 votes after a Supreme Court ruling. People say that Nader was what kept Gore from winning, as he drew votes away and probably swayed the election in Bush’s favor. All in all, the whole election was sloppy and was even more confusing due to the Electoral

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The Supreme Court decision allowed the previous vote certification to stand, as made by Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris for George W. Bush as the winner of Florida's 25 electoral votes . Florida's votes gave Bush, the Republican candidate, 271 electoral votes, one more than the required 270 to win the Electoral College, and the defeat of Democratic candidate Al Gore,who received 266 electoral

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The margins of victory were so close in so many states that it would be impossible to prove who truly won. Many people influenced the outcome of the 2000 election, including the Supreme Court Justices. Gore respectfully won the popular vote, while Bush took home the glory. The number of votes for each party in Florida were so close that recounts were demanded immediately. Many counties in the state of Florida faced mass confusion as the layout of the ballots for the election of 2000 left many voters confused and unsure of how they actually voted.

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The Electoral College has many good attributes some of those include giving equal representation to the small states and keeping the system simple. “The election of 2000 is one of the rare cases where the winner of the popular vote did not also win the electoral vote, but the electoral vote reflected the fact that Bush won in far more states (30) than did Gore, and thus highlighted the federal nature of the system.” The outcome of this election shows how the Electoral College more accurately represents the citizens votes than the popular vote. In this scenario without the electoral college the election would have been swayed in favor of the larger more populous states. “the Electoral Colleges strengthens the two-party system and discourages third-party challengers who could further fragment the existing political system.”

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With much of the issues was in Florida, something had to be done, and the solution have many argue whether or not it was the right thing to do. As the election was coming to an end and new networks were receiving the results for each state, there was much shocked that Gore got Florida. As a swing state, Florida for Gore was a big deal, it meant the presidency goes to him. But no sooner than it happens they had to correct it as Florida as undetermined and then to Bush.

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Bush v. Gore The presidential election that took place on November 7, 2000, was so close that no one knew for more than a month who had won the election of 2000 the Governor of Texas George W. Bush or Vice President Al Gore. By the end of the night, Bush had won 246 electoral votes Gore had won 260. The number of electoral votes needed to win the election is 270. Florida had twenty five electoral votes that were needed to win the election.

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In this case, the votes were being taken away from Al Gore and given to George W. Bush (1). If those ballots were counted in the time they were given, I believe that Al Gore would have been ahead. Also, there are 67 counties total in the state of Florida and 18 of those counties were supposed to be counted, however, only two, which were Palm Beach and Volusia, ballots were being recounted (1). The two

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Regardless of the motivations behind the decision, there is no doubt that it had a significant impact on the outcome of the election. Without Florida's electoral votes, Gore would have won the presidency, and the course of American history would have been dramatically different. The controversy surrounding the decision also highlighted the flaws in the American electoral system and led to calls for reform, particularly in the area of voting rights and voter

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The Electoral College system assures balanced power between the states, puts the independent parties under control, grants balanced voting, and supports the major political parties. The Electoral College has proven itself to be very sufficient in determining the president and the vice president of the United States. Since this system has been successful since our Founding Fathers created it, there should be no reason as to why we should get rid of the Electoral

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Electoral college has been with us since the birth of the constitution, and to this day we are still using this type of system to this day. The Electoral College is a system that the United States uses to elect our upcoming presidents and vice presidents. Each state has electors equal to their senate member and house of representatives, however who ever gets the highest popular vote in the state gets the electoral vote. The issue is the Electoral College do not give votes to the people, but to the states. Which has some unfair consequences.

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Nothing terrible has happened, during, or even after this process of election, and it completely makes sense why. Trent England stated, "In most presidential races, the Electoral College outcome is more decisive than the popular vote result, making clear who is the legitimate president. " This means citizens can rely on the Electoral College for a

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Creating the U.S. Constitution and the democratic values that are associated with, the Founders had some oversight concerning democracy. The electoral college an undemocratic idea within a democratic society. The people vote and, depending on the state, the electors either vote on the outcome of the popular vote or vote what they think. That create a less democratic environment all together. By using the electoral college, the government becomes less of a direct democracy.

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In 1787, years after the founding of the United States, the Constitutional Convention met to decide how the new nation would govern itself. The delegates understood that the need for a leader was necessary but still bitterly remembered how Britain abused of its power. The delegates agreed that the President and Vice President should be chosen informally and not based on the direct popular vote, thus gave birth to the Electoral College. The Electoral College is defined as “a body of people representing the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the election of the president and vice president.” Since 1787 the Electoral College has been the system for voting in the United States, but with our nation ever more changing and growing it

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All through the history of the United States of America, many people have discussed the abolishment of the Electoral College. For many reasons, some believe it is what makes our country have the type of government we have, some believe that it's what limits the power of the government, and many people such as Mitch McConnell believes it is what gives us our freedom and prosperity. While these are valid arguments there is a multitude of reasons to why the electoral college should be abolished. Such as there is only a need for twelve states in order to become the president, popular vote of the people for president can still lose, and the Swing states are given too much power and attention compared to that of the other states. This is why I believe in the abolishment of the Electoral College.

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Current day, it has little relevancy since it was originally included to address also issues that do not exist anymore, including not trusting the decision to be made by the American people. When originally founded, they wanted to ensure the President was decided by electors who had the knowledge to make what they felt was informed decisions. Now, many people feel as though too much power is given to the electoral votes, and that their vote does not mean as much as someone in a different state. As it stands, many feel that small states are largely misrepresented and given too much power since the votes are not divided equally among the population. In fact, if the Electoral College system was not in the Constitution, it would undoubtedly be removed due to it being unconstitutional, because using the electoral votes violates the principle of one-person, one-vote.

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