Electoral College

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Beginning in America in 1787, the Electoral College was originally created during the Constitutional Convention to help make a fair way for the president to be elected without giving too much power to either the national government or individual states. Over the years, the Electoral College has undergone a few changes in attempt to make it more fair, but there is still much debate about whether or not the Electoral College is the most effective way to elect a president. Some people believe that the Electoral College does an excellent job of creating an equal distribution of votes across all ethnicities and social classes of America. In contrast, others think that the Electoral College does not give an accurate portrayal of the popular opinion of Americans, believing that the Electoral College is no longer necessary for the election process in our society. The issue of whether or not the Electoral College should be a part of our government is important to our society, because it has had a dramatic effect on who is elected as president. Several times in American history a potential presidential candidate has obtained the presidential office only because of the Electoral College, despite the fact that they lost the popular vote. Therefore, the Electoral College should be removed from the government and replaced with an election system based on the popular vote.
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...

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Ballaro, Beverly Bourassa, Cheryl. "Electoral College: An Overview."Points Of View: Electoral College (2013): 1. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 13 Dec. 2013.
"Electoral College." Gale Encyclopedia of American Law. Ed. Donna Batten. 3rd ed. Vol. 4. Detroit: Gale, 2010. 109-113. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 13 Dec. 2013.
Franck, Mathew J. "The National Popular Vote Plan Is a Bad Idea." Federal Elections. Ed. Debra A. Miller. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010. Current Controversies. Rpt. from "Junk Arguments Against the Electoral College." National Review Online. 2008. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 13 Dec. 2013.
Kimberling, William C. “The Electoral College.” Federal Election Commission. May. 1992. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.

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