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The Pros And Cons Of The Electoral College

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e Democratic candidate for president could post a higher national aggregate vote total while failing to win a majority of electors in enough states to carry him or her to victory” (Roff 1-2). This happened in the 2016 election where New York senator Hillary Clinton lost to businessman Donald Trump despite receiving nearly three million more votes than him. All politics aside, this system directly contradicts the “one person, one vote” principle of democracy.. The electoral college also encourages gerrymandering. Although it may seem like candidates campaign in the entire country, “candidates target states based on whether they are among a decreasing pool of swing states that in the previous election demonstrated a relatively balanced partisanship” …show more content…

One American’s vote can be “more equal” than another based solely on their location. Presidential candidates ignore the majority of the country during their campaigns, and about half of the country’s states don’t even require their electors to vote as pledged, rendering their citizens votes virtually useless. Regardless of its problems, many people view the electoral college as a nuance of American politics, oblivious to its many obvious issues.. Slavery -- the main reason the system was created to begin with -- was also legal throughout most of human history. For most, it was simply a nuance of life, as it didn’t affect them in any meaningful way, but by the time the Civil War started, many anti-abolitionists were fully aware of it’s inhumanity but feared that abolishing it would have too significant of an impact on society (more specifically, the US economy). The “formality” aspect of the electoral college system that the Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. History hints at it the assertion that “Democratic reforms and the rise of the two-party system have turned it [The electoral college] into a mere formality” (“The Electoral College” 1) alone cause may be the reason so many otherwise reasonable Americans still defend the system. Recapitulating on the idea that what may seem normal and harmless can actually cause great injustice, many average Americans in the seventeenth century grew up with the idea that slaves were actually happy. All Americans must practice genuine moral introspection to identify the basic political issues in their country and the world in general in the present day, regardless of social and political

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635 Words | 3 Pages

Edward’s point means that votes aren’t population-based and that an individual’s vote may outweigh another’s depending on the state. The Electoral College undercuts the principle of one person, one vote and therefore is anti-democratic and should be

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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.

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The year a new president must be chosen is always a time of tension in the United States. Hopeful candidates run for president, and citizens start swearing their allegiance to a candidate and party. The GOP and DNC start grooming the candidates they wish to have as president while independent candidates are just trying to get their names in the news. One of the topics that is always criticized and defended around the time of the presidential elections is always the Electoral College. One side say it is undemocratic and unfair, and the other side says that it is a pillar of the United States government.

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The distribution of electoral votes acts as though less people live where they do, and more people live where they don’t, meaning that in the vast majority of states citizens are either over- or underrepresented (Document A). By beginning to distribute electoral votes based on Congressional representatives, the Electoral College gives an unfair advantage in voting power to citizens of smaller states, and reduces the voting power held by larger states. In short, the Electoral College essentially deems that some residents are worth more than others. The elections of 1980 and 1992 must once again be taken into consideration as, between them, 25,463,258 votes, cast by citizens of the United States, were completely dismissed by the Electoral College (Document B). While neither of the candidates would have won, the fact that the votes of citizens can be so blatantly ignored is troubling.

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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.

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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.

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When the Democratic System in America was founded in 1787, it was built on the sturdy ideals of equality and fairness. The founding fathers of the constitutional convention developed the Electoral college system with the best interests of the American people in mind, as the average person was highly under-educated and they did not trust them to make a decision as important as the But over time as society and even our democracy has changed, it has become ridden with flaws and corruption especially in the electoral college and voting system. The effects of the Electoral College’s inefficiencies oppose the very ideas our democracy was built off of. Because of the over-representation of small states, the broken promises of political equality, and

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It’s Election Season in some obscure year, no different than 4 years ago, or 4 years before that, still Republican v Democrat, maybe a 3rd Party mixed in there somewhere. Where are you right now? Sitting at your desk, or at your desk? Watching TV. Well, whatever it is you're doing, it can’t help but think about the election.

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“The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.” - Winston Churchill. This belief that the average voter is incompetent is the reason why the electoral college was created; the electors provide a barrier between the ill-informed public and the government. The founders of America, the unquestionable champions of democracy themselves, did not trust the average American to choose what is best for the country. But were they right?

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Maansi Dasari Mr. Morris AP English 3 12 January 2017 The Electoral College: The last remnant of slavery Amidst the chaos of the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election, emerges a cacophony of voices screaming for Electoral College reform. Many are angered by the results, others are confused: how can one candidate receive nearly three million more votes than the other and still lose the election? The Electoral College has been the United States’ method for electing a president since the Constitution was ratified, and this is far from the first time that it has been criticized.

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837 Words | 4 Pages

This shows that the Electoral College undercuts the principle of one person, one vote, and therefore violates political equality. “It is not a neutral counting device... it favors some citizens over others, depending solely upon the state in which voters cast their votes for president” (Document D). Political equality means all citizens are equal and it also allows citizens to partake in state affairs, including the right to vote and the right to challenge elections. The electoral college has trouble endorsing democratic values of the United States. In document E, George Will said “the winner takes all electoral vote allocation tends to produce a winning margin that looks like national decisiveness.”

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Your vote doesn’t go to an "elector", Instead your vote automatically goes to the presidential candidate you voted for. This seems much fairer since your vote isn't being controlled by someone else. Many people don't know the difference. As stated at the beginning of the essay it's pushed aside and forgotten about. There have been many people who argue that the electoral college is good where it's at.

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Blanche Lincoln said: “Voters must have faith in the Electoral process for our democracy to succeed,” but the problem is people don’t have faith. In fact according to Vox out of a sample of 1,084, 62% believed that a popular vote system would be a more fitting system to use compared to the Electoral College. Even our current president, Donald Trump, tweeted: “The electoral college is a disaster for our democracy.” Although he has changed his stance (most likely) due to the fact that he won the election only thanks to the Electoral College. Gene Green, a U.S. representative in Texas, stated, “Every citizen’s vote should count in America…

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The Electoral College does not fairly represent the voice of the entire US population, the Popular Vote is what does. It is undemocratic for a presidential candidate to win the Popular Vote, which voices the opinion of the US population, yet only to lose the Electoral College which is voted

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This may be why it has many supporters. The Electoral College was made along with the Constitution. Most people agree that “the Constitution was designed so that the interests of the nation trumped the interests of the individual states” (Bowman and DiLasco). The Electoral College was made to help the nation as a whole. It stops the population from electing a candidate who doesn’t have the national interest at heart.

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