Why Do We Have The Right To Vote

Improved Essays
Today in America, our youth are taught that the right to vote it one of the most important rights we have. It can help us shape our future as a country. But what if this cherished belief weren’t true? There are those that argue that a single a single person’s vote cannot make a difference. But are they right? Voting in America can sometimes become a confusing concept. We are not a direct democracy; meaning that a citizen’s vote does not go directly towards the president during an election. Instead, they vote for voting representatives in their state. This system is known as the Electoral College. The founding fathers built the election process around the Electoral College, but there are problems with the system to accompany its strengths. There are many states which can have a greater influence during elections than others, known as swing states. On the other hand, there are states so set in their political ways that they nearly always lean towards one political party or the other. Arguable the most concerning problem with the Electoral College is the ability for a president to be elected without the popular vote. The …show more content…
This would effectively cut out the middle man of the Electoral College. However, one very real possibility to instituting direct democracy is the appearance of “regional, ideological, or special interest groups” (Turner Jr) that would be able to have a profound impact on presidential elections (Turner Jr).” These groups would be able to use their vast finances and resources to force their way in as presidential contenders, through any means they could. This is one of the exact situations the founding fathers wished to prevent by establishing the Electoral College. Would it truly be worth the destruction of the Electoral College to open the door to this kind of abuse of

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    The Electoral College is a body of people representing the states of the U.S., who formally cast votes for the election of the president and vice president. The Electoral College basically allows popular vote with a safeguard, it exaggerates the margin of victory for the winner, and it recognizes the state's role in the federal system. Those that oppose the Electoral College argue that it is dangerous because the chance of electing the popular vote loser as it did in 1888 and 2000 with Harrison and Bush respectively. This problem results from a division election and a candidate capturing the most votes in a few populous, urban states. Another complaint is the winner take all system discourages 3rd parties from participating.…

    • 401 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Electoral College is a flawed system in which decides America’s presidential fate. According to Google, the Electoral College “consists of 538 electors. A majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the President.” In many elections in the past, Presidential candidates who did not win a majority of the popular vote, or even a plurality, were elected president because of the electoral college. Take Bush vs. Al Gore for example.…

    • 712 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    One main pro of the electoral college, said by defenders of the system, is that it is, “a healthier constitutional form that values the capacity to carry numerous,” political ideals across the nation. Secondly, the electoral college system, “[requires] candidates to assemble multistate and multi regional coalitions rather than focusing,” on large states and urban communities. In a direct election, the largest concentration of voters would be in the large states and in dense metropolitan areas. One main con of the electoral college is that though the small states are overrepresented due to, “the senatorial bump, some persuasive legitimating principle other than the fact that the framers endorsed the idea,” should continue to exist today, but does not (Rakove). According to Gallup Poll in 2011, 62% of americans preferred a popular vote system for electing the president, while “barely a third, 35%, say they would keep the electoral college” (Inc).…

    • 815 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Should we abandoned our voting system, known as the electoral college. The Electoral college was created because the Founding Fathers believed that people are not smart enough to pick our own president. The electoral college picks the president and vice president indirectly. Each state gets an electoral vote for every representative and senator it has. For example, maryland has 8 representatives and 2 senators, so maryland gets 10 electoral votes.…

    • 428 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Electoral College Vs. National Popular Vote The recent 2016 presidential election, has caused the population to question the electoral college, more than it ever has before. Those who disagree with the electoral college have propelled the National Popular Vote (NPV), a movement that started in 1969.…

    • 1150 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Electoral College was designed so that the candidates running for President would need to campaign and appeal to all of the voters of our nation and not just a select few. It allows for even smaller states that a national candidate might never visit to require the candidate to show up and ask for votes. The every state has a right to hear and see the candidate allows the candidates to focus on issues that affect everyone around the country and not just one section of the nation. While the winner takes all fashion of issuing votes with the electoral college may be representative of the citizens of that state, it leaves out states that are not consider “swing” states for their issues being included. Candidates tend to campaign hard in states considered “swing” states and then ignore the states that they believe they have already won.…

    • 1111 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Election is a serious business. No individual should be given any right to manipulate in election. Electoral College system also has drawback of swing states. Swing states has no single candidate or party that has overwhelming voters support for securing that state's Electoral College votes. Swing states are targeted by political parties for gaining electoral votes.…

    • 1330 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Electoral College Dbq

    • 855 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Electoral College The President of the United States of America is the most powerful man in the world. As the Commander-in-Chief, Leader of the represented party, and peacekeeper among the world, the President’s job is up for grabs every four years. Article II of The Constitution states, any natural born citizen who has been a resident of the United States for at least fourteen years, and above the age of thirty-five can become the President (Posner 1). In order to be elected, the candidate must first win a majority of the state’s representatives and secure the party nomination.…

    • 855 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Electoral College also promotes the unequal representation of the people state by state. States of different sizes and populations all have the same amount of voting power no matter what. According to (Liptak, 2013) the New York Times this means that a state like Vermont…

    • 907 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Essay On Electoral College

    • 1042 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Today, there are still many people who are not educated about not only politics, but also national and local affairs; therefore, these people should not decide by themselves who should run the country. This is another reason I believe we should not abolish the Electoral College. Not everyone is uneducated, but there are very many who are ignorant. The Founders goal was to get a group of informed people to select the President, because everyone else was uninformed or just ignorant. This is still the case in the United States, therefore, the current policy we have that is the Electoral college should not…

    • 1042 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Electoral College was a system outlined in the United States’ constitution by the founding fathers, as the method in which they believe the president should be elected. But with the progression of time the views on the necessity of the Electoral College has become a controversy, as now two factions exist with one faction believing that the Electoral College is an illegitimate method for the election of a president. Though this faction exists and believes the Electoral College is an unfair system that gives a disproportionate voice to different United States’ citizens, but is it truly unfair and unjust. As the Electoral College is a part of the United States constitution where it can be found in Article II, Section I along with a few clarifications…

    • 1367 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    First, when we talk about the electoral college we need to put in mind the reason why it was made and what it was like when it was established. When the electoral college was founded, the Founding Fathers were trying to solve multiple problems, they need to keep the large and the small states equal because the small states were becoming jealous of the power of the…

    • 1234 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Electoral College is in place to decide the president of the United States. There are people that agree on it and people that do not. The Electoral College System is an inadequate form of electing the president of the United States, there are better ways to go about choosing a president in a more Democratic way. Having a popular vote, or by deciding by congressional districts would be other options that Congress has thought about, and even states have signed in on being for a National Popular Vote. The Electoral College is a representation of the popular vote, on the other hand it makes it unfair at the same time.…

    • 1326 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    It is the citizen’s job in our democracy to elect who we want as a country to represent us. When high schoolers turn 18 and they now have the ability to vote they should know why it’s important to do so. When you cast your vote you are putting in say to the government and how you want them to operate the system. They also cast their choice to the political…

    • 242 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Why Do People Get To Vote

    • 594 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Like many other people, I believe everyone deserves to vote. As of right now there is a large percentage of people who do not vote. Many people find it to be too much trouble or simply dont have enough time. EVM machines will not only make it easier for everyone to vote, but it will make the entire voting system more efficient. Even though using an EVM machine may be intimidating to some; the majority of people have no trouble using the machines.…

    • 594 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays