The Pros And Cons Of The Electoral College

Improved Essays
Every four years, citizens of the United States of America choose their next president based off a unique system known as the electoral college. The way that this system works is interesting and is confused easily in the general public. In early November, when citizens go to the polls, they are not voting for the president directly, rather they are voting for their individual states to cast its electoral votes towards a certain presidential candidate. In the forty-eight of the fifty states where voting takes place, all the electoral votes go to the presidential candidate who wins the majority in their state. No matter how large or small the majority is, the presidential candidate gets all the votes. However, there a few complications that cause public dissatisfaction such as when the electoral college was established. …show more content…
Because of this claim and the complications brought forth by a complex system, many people call for the abolishment of the electoral college. A dismissal like this is a terrible idea because the electoral college is an institution in which our country is based. To understand why the electoral college is important, one must look at the facts to see why it is our only option. Although the electoral college has its flaws, it is important to understand the consequences of switching to the popular vote, the preservation of Federalism and how it proves the electoral college is not outdated, and perhaps most importantly how it has led to the development of the Democrat and Republican parties that strive for broad appeal. Before delving into each of these topics, it is very important to understand further how the electoral college works and why it is such a highly criticized

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    “The Electoral College was necessary when communications were poor, literacy was low, and voters lacked information about out-of-state figures, which is clearly no longer the case.” is what Gene Green once stated. Over the few past elections it has seems as if the Electoral College is being used more, and more to win elections. I have now grown to oppose the Electoral College, and think that it is time that we no longer use It. Considering that the Electoral College was created in the first place to prevent the newly founded American from getting manipulated, by electing tyrants, and also that the Electoral College was designed so that each would have equal representation based on population. However in some cases it does not work because no…

    • 367 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Should the united states continue to elect its president through the electoral college system? To ease some of the tension with this decision let me lay down some facts and information. In a presidential election, the popular vote simply means an aggregate of all voters from all states in America. The candidate who gets the most votes nationwide is said to have won the popular vote. But the winner of the popular vote may end up losing the election, like “Al Gore did in 2000 and Hillary Clinton in 2016.…

    • 1174 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Electoral College distributes their votes unfairly, causing some smaller states to have more of a say in the election than larger states. This was originally intended to balance out population differences, but in our modern country, this compensation has become over compensation. A main point in the Electoral College is to make sure none of the states are favored, but instead, the smaller states are getting more power than they should have. In a video stating the troubles with the Electoral College, “The Electoral College violates a principle by making sure that some people’s votes are more equal than…

    • 1322 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Electoral College, founded during the Constitutional Convention of 1787, mediated the voting interests of both the states and the federal government. It was initially designed to promote the voice of small states and the American people, create a well-informed voting body, and establish the Presidency as an independent election free from Congressional bias. Although this strategy was an effective solution to political disputes of the aforementioned era, it has now become outdated in contemporary society. Consequently, the Electoral College should be abolished for the subsequent reasons: It is undemocratic in nature, guilty of inequitable representation of the population, and discourages third party candidates from campaigning for the Presidency.…

    • 833 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A few years after the United States was founded, the Constitutional Convention met to decide how the nation would be governed. They decided that they needed a leader to govern the nation. Based on experiences, the delegates knew that they needed find someone who was not a tyrant and did not abuse their power. The delegates did not believe that the president should be chosen by popular vote. They did not contemplate that voters would be perspicacious enough to make a worthy choice in choosing the president.…

    • 1009 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Electoral College Flaws

    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Dear State Senator, the electoral college is an obsolete system of election. Although the electoral college was an idea set by the founding fathers in the constitution, this form of election is not effective any longer. People have the right to vote, but this form of election is not directly voting for a representative. The electoral college essentially makes the people vote for electors who then have the opportunity to vote for whom ever they would like. The electoral system is an archaic system that needs to be exchanged for the popular vote because the people do not vote for an actual representative, the system has failed before, and the system has the opportunity to have an even greater mishap.…

    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    For hundreds of years, we have used the electoral vote rather than the popular vote when we have had to select a president and vice president. In this essay, we will be examining the structure and function of the Electoral College, comparing the Electoral College to the popular vote and assessing the value of the individual citizen’s vote under the Electoral College system. The Electoral College was created in 1787. The reason, the Electoral College was created, was to give the power of electing a president to the states and not to the people themselves.…

    • 788 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Statistics show that 74% of the population is against the Electoral College. The first reason as to why it is so highly criticized is because a president can be won without a majority of the popular vote. If most of the United States population supports one candidate, but the electors’ majority supports the other, the candidate chosen by the electors becomes president. It has happened at least four times in the past and arguably violates the powers of the common people. Another reason why the Electoral College is highly criticized is because the weight each elector has between small and large states vary greatly.…

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In a presidential race, the candidate with the highest popular vote can lose to a candidate with the lower popular vote if the candidate with the lower popular vote has more electoral votes. Originally, the electoral college was created to compromise the people's vote with congress’ vote. Some people argue that the electoral college should be changed or abolished while others think that there is nothing wrong with it. The electoral college needs to be changed because one party should not be able to change the possible president and the House of Representatives should not either, but there does need to be a secure way to elect a president.…

    • 737 Words
    • 3 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

    Since the 2000 Election, the question of whether the electoral college does more harm than help the country has been a widely debated topic. While the question never left people’s minds, people seemed to believe it would not happen again especially after Barack Obama’s two successful wins in both the popular vote and electoral college. However, the recent 2016 Election truly has people outraged and thinking of the question more every day as the current President is constantly in the news for doing things that are either not presidential or doing things that could be harmful to the country. The electoral college either needs to be abolished or modified in a way that supports the people more because its original reason for being created is no…

    • 1146 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

    The Electoral College is the system that the United States uses to pick our next president. It does it through the vote of 538 Electorates who voters choose at the polls to represent them. Whomever receives 270 or more votes casted by electorates towards their ticket wins the presidential office. This system was created by the founders because they thought it would help protect the interests of the smaller states from the bigger ones. This system of choosing the next president of the United States is unfair and should be abolished in favor of a system that properly represents its people.…

    • 907 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In recent years, the Electoral College has raised eyebrows and made some question the integrity of the institution itself. Critics argue that the Electoral College is “undemocratic” and “unfair” (Goldstein, 1996). Others argue that abolishing the Electoral College would “undermine [the] important principles of American democracy” (Goldstein, 1996). But what exactly is the Electoral College and how does it work? In this essay, I will explain what the Electoral College is and how it came to be.…

    • 751 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In numerous states the ballot list only the names of the presidential candidates and not the names of the electors, so a large number of individuals think they are voting for the president. There are many positive and negative aspects of the electoral college one of the positives would be that it promotes a two-party system of governance this is a positive because a two party system is…

    • 615 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays