What Are The Pros And Cons Of The Electoral College

Following the recent presidential election of Donald Trump, many individuals have been up in arms over whether or not the Electoral College is a fair way to elect the President of the United States. When Hillary Clinton won the national popular vote, yet Donald Trump became president, there were many questions brought up, as to why the Electoral College is still a running system. The Electoral College was made at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, by the Founding Fathers of America. The Founding Fathers held many meetings to decide on a fair way to elect the President. They thought of using a popular vote, but soon realized it would cause too many problems. The Electoral College was a fair way to let every person be involved with the voting.

In an article by Procon.org, it states “The Founding Fathers enshrined the Electoral College in the US Constitution because they thought it was the best method to choose the president” (The Electoral College: Top 3 Pros and Cons). This is important because the Founding Fathers created the Constitution to establish the rules of the nation, basically to keep the peace. They figured that if they set rules and precedents in place, there would be tranquility. Without the government, there would not be life, liberty, and property. It was not easy for George Washington and the others to establish this new rule. They had to consider the problems of the populations of certain states. For instance, there was a plan called the Virginia Plan. The Virginia Plan proposed to have a bicameral legislative plan. This did not work because it gave big states an advantage because of the representatives in Congress that were based on population. There was also a plan proposed by New Jersey which let each state have one vote in congress. The New Jersey plan did not happen because it favored the small states. This is where the Connecticut Compromise comes into play, better known as the Great Compromise. The Great Compromise merged the first two plans together in order to make everyone satisfied. Fast forward to present day America, the Electoral

While having electors in each state, it makes the voting process easier for the government. Most of the time, unless the vote counts are very close, there will not need to be a recount. Using electors to vote for the popular choice of the state, keeps it simple and easy with fewer people to account for. In an article that agrees with the College, they express, “The Electoral College guarantees certainty to the outcome of the presidential election” (The Electoral College: Top 3 Pros and Cons). This is very important to understand because there is no debate over electoral votes. This process does not need recounts of the electoral votes because there are not millions of votes to be confused with. The electors of the states are automatically supposed to award the winner of the popular vote to win their state. Barbara Feinberg explains the presidential process in her book called “Electing the President.” She graduated from Yale University, and writes most of her books on political science. In Feinberg’s book, she provides evidence of, “In about one-third of the state 's, laws require electors to cast their votes, known as electoral votes, for the candidate who won the vote of the people on Election Day” (43). Most states have laws that make them vote for the popular vote. In other states, it is just expected for them to vote for the most popular, although they may not.