The Affects of the Electoral College on the Significance and Legitimacy of American Voting
In the 1996 United States presidential election, only 49 percent of the voting age population cast a ballot (Federal Election Committee). Only 56 percent of whites voted, followed by 50 percent of African American, and only 27 percent of Hispanics (Federal Election Committee). With such low voter turnout, one must wonder about the cause of this epidemic. Voting is a right that Americans once took great pride in. The right to vote allows Americans not only say in who runs the government, but also affects their freedom and future. Or does it? The United States uses an institution called the Electoral College, not the vote of the people, to choose the president. In this system, each state Electoral College receives a certain numbers of votes. All of these votes go to the candidate who receives the majority in that particular state (Federal Election Committee). Whichever candidate receives the most electoral votes nationally wins (Federal Election Committee). So, it is not truly the people who decide who will lead them. In the United States, a supposed democracy, the Electoral College renders individual voting meaningless.
One reason that the Electoral College has contributed to the apathy of American voters is that it does not allow citizens a real say in presidential elections. According to the Constitution, the people are the source of government power, yet they are not permitted to choose their leader. In presidential elections, individual votes are not even counted (Citizens for True Democracy). The only voice that voters have is through the election of delegates to the electoral colleges (Federal Election Commission). The electoral colleges also cause the individual vote to become pointless by using a “winner-takes-all” system in many states (Citizens for True Democracy). In these systems, all of a state’s electoral votes go to the candidate who gathered a majority vote. In many elections, candidates who didn’t receive the highest percentage of the popular vote were still elected president because they received enough votes from the Electoral College. For example, in the presidential election of 1824, John Quincy Adams was elected president with 108,740 popular votes, even though Andrew Jackson received 153,544 votes (Bailey, Kennedy, and Cohen A28). Such a system does not accurately reflect the wishes of the citizens in this “democratic” nation.
Voting is at the center of every democratic system. In america, it is the system in which a president is elected into office, and people express their opinion. Many people walk into the voting booth with the thought that every vote counts, and that their vote might be the one that matters above all else. But in reality, America’s voting system is old and flawed in many ways. Electoral College is a commonly used term on the topic of elections but few people actually know how it works.
The United States of America is often touted as the guiding beacon of democracy for the entirety of the modern world. In spite of this tremendous responsibility the political system of the United States retains some aspects which upon examination appear to be significantly undemocratic. Perhaps the most perplexing and oft misunderstood of these establishments is the process of electing the president and the institution known as the Electoral College. The puzzle of the Electoral College presents the American people with a unique conundrum as the mark of any true democracy is the citizens’ ability to elect their own ruling officials. Unfortunately, the Electoral College system dilutes this essential capacity by introducing an election by
Although much of the nation believes that the Electoral College should be kept, there are many reasons as to why the Electoral College should be abolished. First off, the fact that there is a possibility that the popular vote of the citizens is not really taken into consideration when it comes down to electing a president that will rule over them. Although the citizens are allowed to cast a vote in favor of the particular candidate that they wish to elect, but it is not necessary that the electoral vote reflects the votes casted by majority of the population of that state. As a result of the unjust representation of the people’s votes, which adds to the many reason as why the Electoral College should be abolished, the voter turnout has been decreasing as an increasing amount of the citizens realize that their votes doesn’t actually matter. Even though the Electoral College will still be in place for a decent amount of the future, if I were to devise a new way to elect the President and the Vice President of the United States of America I was leave it to direct popular vote by the citizens which the Electors must be obliged to cast their vote corresponding to the popular vote of the citizens. Also, the distribution of electors between states should be increasingly equal. This way the United States of America can leave up to its democratic name and the citizens of the
In this paper four subjects on the Electoral College will be addressed. These four subjects are: What is the Electoral College? Why did the founding fathers create the Electoral College? What are some major criticisms of the Electoral College? Should we keep it? Before these questions are addressed it should be noted that many people were not aware of the existence of the Electoral College, perhaps even the Author of this paper.
The United States is a privileged country with freedoms and opportunities many countries strive to achieve. People come into the United States in hopes to obtain these rights and make a better life for themselves; they strive to achieve “The American Dream.” Citizens are given the chance to vote, speak their mind, and live according to their desires without prejudice. However, the same government that promises hope has flaws that frustrate the American people; the Electoral College is one topic of debate. Many feel this system is a safe way to regulate who leads the country, while others feel that issues should be left to popular vote.
The author argues that without the use of an Electoral College that every vote by an American citizen would still create a big outcome in the election for a candidate. Instead of telling electors who citizens wished to cast their vote for, citizens would be able to really vote for the candidate in which they feel will be most effective for the country. The author believes that the Electoral College has soiled our elections and that we should make a better way in which we can make the elections more efficient and equal for each and every citizen in
Every four years that a Presidential election comes to pass the Electoral College is responsible for the formal election of both the President and Vice President of the United States. As an example of an indirect election, where people in each state at large vote in order to decide which individuals will be delegated the responsibility of casting votes for President and Vice President in accordance with the popular vote of the state which has entrusted them to provide such representation, the Electoral College works to ensure that smaller states are not denied the right to have the equal power of influence in our national election for President (Neale, 2004). The Electoral College itself has been in existence since it was introduced within the framework of various proposals introduced at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 (Neale, 2004). The Mcgovern-Fraser Commission in 1969, which was known formally as the Commission on Party Structure and Delegate Selection, played a crucial role in amending the practices of political parties in their work within the Electoral framework, in particular changing the way in which states were allowed to select delegates to national conventions (Stricherz, 2003). This would result in candidates having to develop broader campaigns that would need to appeal to voters across any state in which they desired that states delegation officially support their candidacy.
As the United States of America gets older, so does the presidential election voting system. The argument to change this method of voting has been becoming more and more popular as the years go on. It has been said that the Framers of the Constitution came up with this method because of the bad transportation, communication, and they feared the public’s intelligence was not suitable for choosing the President of the United States. Others say that the Framers made this method because they feared that the public did not receive sufficient information about candidates outside of their state to make such a decision based on direct popular vote. My research on this controversial issue of politics will look into the factors into why the Electoral College exists and if it is possibly outdated for today’s society. It will look into the pros and cons of this voting system, and it will explore the alternative methods of voting such as the Direct Popular vote. Many scholarly authors have gathered research to prove that this voting system is outdated and it does not accurately represent the national popular will. Many U.S. citizens value their vote because they only get one to cast towards the candidate of their choice in the presidential election. Based on the Electoral College system their vote may possibly not be represented. Because of today’s society in the U.S. the Electoral College should be abolished because it is not necessary to use a middle-man to choose our president for us. It is a vote by the people, all of us having one voice, one vote.
In the United States, the Electoral College determines the victor of a national election. Each state has its own number of electoral votes, which is determined by state population. This system is a “winner takes all” system. Which means the candidate with 50 percent or more of the votes in an individual state gets all of that states electoral votes. The 2016 presidential election will have 538 electoral votes, this means that the election will be decided who is the first candidate to 270 votes. Some people have seen this system as outdated and unjust. Many are looking at a way to change the system and others would like to do away with the system
Voting for one's future leader is an immense responsibility and a strong government move that was ahead of its time when first established. As Abraham Lincoln once said “The ballot is stronger than the bullet.” The Electoral College must be abolished in order for every citizen's ballot to be stronger than the bullet. Democracy will be a virtue that this country will always be privileged enough endure for it is the foundation of America. The Electoral College however is only impeding the the democratic nationalism. The Electoral College does not prove to be an accurate representation of the American people, therefore even the republic that is in place is taking away one of the basic principles that was bestowed upon America. Popular sovereignty must be effective on a national level as opposed to the state level. Although the popular vote of the Electoral College does take popular votes it does not take it on the national level. That is the problem of this system and because there is no impeccable way of mending this wretched system, it has to be abolished for the sake of all american
With the Electoral College in place, the United States remains a true Representative Democracy. By having electors, who are nominated to cast their vote for the president, the nation distances itself from a Direct Democracy (Longley). While creating the nation, many people believe the founders were strictly concerned with power to the citizens. However, they truly did not give the people much “political credit” (Longley). In fact, the “framers expressly ejected” the idea of popular vote, and felt using state electors was the only fair method of electing the president (Gringer 2008). They also understood “it would be unlikely for a candidate to have a nationwide presence among the people” (Patel, 2012) Delegate Elbridge Gerry believed a plan using popular vote was “radically vicious” and feared that the “people are uninformed, and would be misled by a few designing men” (Gerry 1787). They framers understood many people do not have a lot of information on, or background in politi...
First, the Electoral College system is not the optimum election system for the country of America because of the fact that it allows for a candidate with a minority of the popular vote to win the presidency. On several occasions, such as in 2000, a president has been elected with less popular votes than the major opposing candidate. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, “I...
The Electoral College was a compromise between those at the Constitutional Convention who wanted the US president elected by popular vote and those who wanted congress to select the president. They believed that having it where each state would get a certain number of votes based on population would keep a manipulative and charming person out of office. They thought it would prevent bribery and corruption along with secret dealings. I don’t think that this is the case and it one of the reason I feel that the Electoral College should be abolished.
2016 is slowly approaching as 2015 comes to an end and thus ushers in a new President at the end of the year! The 2016 election will be held on November 8th, 2016 and will be the 58th quadrennial presidential election. With each presidential election comes the controversy on the basis of how they were elected. Primarily, the publics opinion on the electoral college and how it is the actual determining factor in who is chosen for presidency. The problems that may spring forward will be what the electoral college actually is and how it works, why the founding fathers created the Electoral College, major criticisms on the Electoral College, and why it should be abolished.
The Electoral College has to be abolished, or at the very least the electors themselves. If their job is only to ratify, then the electoral numbers on Election Day should suffice without the need for the second vote.” (New York Times 2016) A common argument is the lack of the public opinion being represented. If there are electors that support the public opinion and there is a small amount of them there, then the people who are self interested are taking over the vote count, the public opinion electors’ vote will not be seen. Since the final vote comes from the members of the Electoral college, the minority population may feel overwhelmed and pressured by the others. The electors feeling pressured is another point that is a key problems from partisanship. People think that getting rid of the Electoral College can be a solution for the public to increase in power in deciding who their leader will be. Lastly, the third and final argument further discusses the complex and grubby issues of what should happen if a presidential candidate loses the Electoral College vote, but wins the popular