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Electoral College Is Bad For America Analysis

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In chapter two of Why the Electoral College is Bad for America George C. Edwards III discusses how political equality is hindered by the existence of the electoral college. Edwards very eloquently argues that the electoral college is a threat to American democracy. The author uses statistics from past elections to support his claim that the electoral college leads to political inequality. Edwards first defines why political equality is so crucial to democracy. Then he goes on to state how the popular votes have translated into the electoral votes. The popular vote represents the people’s choice while the electoral votes represents who will actually be president. The current system of electing the president distorts the representation of the people. Policies such as the “winner-take-all system” have especially led to perpetuating inequality in the political sense. In this current system the voice of the people who voted for the losing candidate is unheard. Their votes when translated into the electoral votes, the vote that counts, are nonexistent. In the winner-take-all system all …show more content…
In the 1876 election Samuel J. Tilden won 50.9% of the popular vote and Rutherford B. Hayes won 47.9% of the popular vote. However, Hayes won 185 electoral votes and Tilden won 184. In the 1888 election Grover Cleveland won 48.6%, and Benjamin Harrison won 47.8% of the popular vote. However, Harrison won the election with 233 electoral votes and Cleveland lost with 168 votes. In 1960 Richard Nixon won the popular vote with 49.3% and John F. Kennedy lost the popular vote with 49.2%. However, JFK won the election with 303 electoral votes and Nixon lost with 219 votes. Once again the 2000 election George W. Bush lost the popular vote however won the electoral vote against Al Gore. These examples that Edwards gives clearly depict how undemocratic the electoral college really

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