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Summary Of Point Abolishing The Electoral College

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To What Extent Should the United States Restructure its Electoral College System? : States With the 2016 election in the books, the United States has elected a candidate that lost the popular vote by over two million votes. This is the second time in the twenty first century that this has occurred. In such a democratic nation, the ability to win the important office of the presidency without popular consent raises a few concerns about the two hundred and forty year old system. In a democracy, the voices of the states and their respective populations must be heard. With that in mind, the Electoral College has allowed the minority to rule the majority. As a result, the fairness and the legitimacy of this system is being examined. THE ELECTORAL …show more content…

Benjamin Bolinger, the author of, “Point: Abolishing the Electoral College,” believes that America was founded on the idea of majority rule. He asserts that the Electoral College defies these ideals through the winner-take-all system, which has allowed candidates to lose the popular vote but still earn a ticket to the white house. The author believes that the President should be chosen the same way as every other elected official, by a popular vote. In a popular vote, the majority would rule and every person’s voice would matter (179). In addition, the author points out that America was also founded on the phrase, “no taxation without representation,” and yet four million United States citizens are excluded entirely from voting in the election. Citizens in United States territories, such as Puerto Rico, have a profound interest in presidential elections because they determine the fate of their nation. However, the United States’ territories are not allowed to vote; they have no representation. The author concludes that a popular vote would better represent every United States citizen. This system would also encourage third parties due to the decreased importance of a state’s party alignment (180). At the end of his paper, Bolinger acknowledges that this solution might not fix all of the problems but will at least get America’s …show more content…

Vincy Fon author of, “Electoral College Alternatives and U.S. Presidential Elections,” presents two possible allocation systems. The first system, called the perfect proportional allocation system, would convert the state’s popular votes into the corresponding percentage of electoral votes. This system would require the use of decimals and the exact number of popular votes cast. The system would have to be highly efficient and closely monitored. Due to the preciseness, the presidential race would be hard to cover because of the large number of decimal places (45). The second system applies the same principles as the first but instead utilizes whole numbers and rounding to get an easier and more definable score. Both of these systems focus more on the will of the people and closely reflect the popular vote (45-46). This article is helpful because it has very specific and distinct plans to revise the Electoral College rather than just abolishing it. The author’s language seems to be unbiased and statistically driven. Fon’s purpose is to illustrate some alternatives to the Electoral College to make it a more fair

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