In the upcoming 2016 Presidential Election, it’s important for people to understand their role in the voting system and how the voting system actually works. One important aspect to the election is the Electoral College, which is the true body that hand picks the President and Vice President. However, many people are in the dark to as what the Electoral College actually does. Is it a system that directly reflects the votes of the citizens or is it a calculating system that sides with the majority? As of June 28, 2016, the History Channel listed on its website, “When Americans vote for a President and Vice President, they are actually voting for presidential electors, known collectively as the Electoral College.” To break it down, voters vote
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Meaning that if majority of voters voted for the Republican candidate in the state, the elector will be more likely to vote Republican. Under the Electoral College, if a voter votes Democrat at the poll, but the state goes Republican, the Democratic candidate will not receive any of the state’s electoral votes. Whereas a more direct election will allow every vote to go to either candidate (US Selection Atlas). Additionally, the Electoral College fails its voters in larger states, because smaller states receive more electoral votes due to a smaller population. According to Fair Vote’s “Problems with the Electoral College” article, it states that “small states were given additional power to prevent politicians from only focusing on issues which affect the larger states. The fear was…politicians would completely ignore small states and only focus on big population centers.” This may seem as a solution to allow small states to have a voice, but inversely it quiets the larger states, which much of the political issues deal …show more content…
One way to engage political process is to create a petition that can gain enough attention and signatures, that will force Congress to review it. This year’s election would the perfect time, since the election has such high profile candidates that have caught the attention of many voters. If all those voters that believe they’re vote won’t matter because historically their state has always been either Republican or Democratic and they want to vote opposite of their state, then they should start a petition which could eventually accumulate into a formal proposal for a direct election, if there is enough signatures and arguments to back it up. Another approach is to propose a plan similar to the 1950 Lodge-Gossett Amendment, which planned to reallocate the electoral votes, as well as abolishing the Electoral College (Fair Vote). If instead of allocating votes to presidential tickets directly proportional to popular votes, the electoral votes would be allocated to each region or major city in each state, allowing each region in the state to directly vote for the presidential candidate avoiding a large scale of majority rules. It will allow a smaller area of people to decide what candidate to pick, rather than making a whole state choose one party over the
Meaning that if majority of voters voted for the Republican candidate in the state, the elector will be more likely to vote Republican. Under the Electoral College, if a voter votes Democrat at the poll, but the state goes Republican, the Democratic candidate will not receive any of the state’s electoral votes. Whereas a more direct election will allow every vote to go to either candidate (US Selection Atlas). Additionally, the Electoral College fails its voters in larger states, because smaller states receive more electoral votes due to a smaller population. According to Fair Vote’s “Problems with the Electoral College” article, it states that “small states were given additional power to prevent politicians from only focusing on issues which affect the larger states. The fear was…politicians would completely ignore small states and only focus on big population centers.” This may seem as a solution to allow small states to have a voice, but inversely it quiets the larger states, which much of the political issues deal …show more content…
One way to engage political process is to create a petition that can gain enough attention and signatures, that will force Congress to review it. This year’s election would the perfect time, since the election has such high profile candidates that have caught the attention of many voters. If all those voters that believe they’re vote won’t matter because historically their state has always been either Republican or Democratic and they want to vote opposite of their state, then they should start a petition which could eventually accumulate into a formal proposal for a direct election, if there is enough signatures and arguments to back it up. Another approach is to propose a plan similar to the 1950 Lodge-Gossett Amendment, which planned to reallocate the electoral votes, as well as abolishing the Electoral College (Fair Vote). If instead of allocating votes to presidential tickets directly proportional to popular votes, the electoral votes would be allocated to each region or major city in each state, allowing each region in the state to directly vote for the presidential candidate avoiding a large scale of majority rules. It will allow a smaller area of people to decide what candidate to pick, rather than making a whole state choose one party over the