What Are The Benefits Of A Winner-Take-All System

Multiple states used indirect primaries to elect the president of the United States. In these elections, voters select delegates who are pledged to cast a ballot based on the preferences of the voters. Many democratic primaries divide the delegates based on proportional representation, a candidate receiving any percentage of the vote is entitled to at least one delegate. In many republican state primaries delegates may be selected in a winner-take-all system. In a winner-take-all primary election, the candidate with the most votes gains all the delegates in that state. Voters in this system do not vote directly for electors but for the presidential and vice presidential candidates their electors are aligned with. 48 states and the district of Columbia have a winner-take-all system in place in the electoral college. …show more content…
The largest political group in a district or state generally elects offices in a winner-take-all election. The winner-takes-all system discounts election results and makes the voting minority of each state under-represented. Third parties are severely underrepresented in this electoral system.
This system of assigning delegates to candidates leads to decreased voter turnout. Voters may believe they have little chance of influencing the outcome of an election and so choose not to participate. However, this voting institution is designed to reach and end goal quickly. Too much partisan bickering over choosing a presidential candidate would drag out the election