Electoral College

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With the surge of controversy surrounding the recent election, the United States has rekindled the Electoral College debate. However, this isn’t the first time that a tight election has resulted in unclear or contested results. Nor is it the first time the Electoral College has made a president out of the popular vote loser. In the over two hundred years since its construction, the Electoral College has demonstrated its shortcomings with more than its share of mishaps. Is this system a tribute to democracy and the brilliance of its creators or is it an archaic tradition that should be eliminated?

In order to fully understand the workings of the Electoral College we must first look at its origins. What were the founding fathers considering when they created this system for electing our president? We must go back to the days where people still got around on horseback. In 1787, the nation was made up of only thirteen states and four million people. Crude transportation and communication were all that connected the country, making a national campaign unrealistic. Also, keep in mind that these thirteen states were all protective of their own rights and distrustful of any national government. The saying was “The office should seek the man, the man shouldn’t seek the office (Kimberling 1).” The goal was to devise a method that would adequately represent each state and at the same time reflect the will of the entire country. The founders originally came up with several different ideas to accomplish this. After deciding against a popular national vote, they considered just having the congress or the state legislature select the president. They finally decided on the system that we have today, the Electoral College.

The Electoral College works by representing each state separately in the election. In doing this, the states share power with the federal government. It can be explained as basically having a separate election in each state. Every state has a certain number of allotted electoral votes that will be cast for the presidency. The minimum number a state can have is three. The District of Columbia is also given three electoral votes – the same as the smallest state. Each state is given one vote for each representative in the house and one for each of its two senators. ...

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...nham, Richard. “Why the Electoral College Lives On.” Business Week 3708 (2000): 41-42. Retrieved Academic Search Elite 3 Dec. 2000: 1-2.

Durbin, Dick. “Durbin Renews Call For Abolishment of Electoral College in Favor of Direct Election of President.” FDCH Press Releases (2000) Retrieved Academic Search Elite 18 Nov. 2000: 1-1.

Federal Elections Commision. “How The Electoral College Works.” Online Posting. 26 November, 2000 <www.fec.gov/pages/ ecworks.htm>.

Kimberling, William. “The Electoral College.” Online Posting. 26 November, 2000 <http://www.fec.gov/pdf/eleccoll.pdf>.

McLaughlin, Abraham. “Electoral College.” Christian Science Monitor 92 (2000): 14-14. Retrieved Academic Search Elite 18 Nov. 2000: 1-1.

National Archives and Records Administration. “Frequently Asked Questions About the Electoral College.” Online Posting. 3 December, 2000 <http://www.nara.gov/fedreg/elctcoll/faq.html>.

Rosenberg, Yuval. “What if They Both Win?” Newsweek 20 (2000): 34-36. Retrieved Academic Search Elite 18 Nov. 2000: 1-2.

Schlesinger Jr., Arthur. “It’s a Mess, But We’ve Been Through It Before.” Time 156 (2000): 64-65. Retrieved Academic Search Elite 18 Nov. 2000: 1-2.

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