Why Voting is never Completely Accurate!!
Statement of the Problem
There are several problems when it comes to elections. One of the problems is whether the candidates played fairly throughout the election. Another problem is whether the votes that are being cast are being counted correctly or even being counted at all. The main reason this topic has become such an important issue is because of the last two elections. The first election had a problem in the state of Florida, and the 2004 elections had problems in the state of Ohio.
Evidence Used in Reaching my Conclusion
One of the things I would worry about in voting is how and who is counting my votes. For instance, a type of voting I would not be satisfied with is the paper ballot way of voting. The modern system of election using paper ballots was first used in 1858 in Australia. The great Australian innovation was to print standardized ballots at government expense, distribute them to the voters at the polling places, and require that the voters vote and return the ballots immediately. Today, the security against election fraud this provides seems obvious, but in the 19th century, it was not obvious to most observers, and it was not until 1888 that this ballot was used in the United States.
Another type of voting that is a problem to me is the lever voting machine. Lever voting machines offer excellent voter privacy, and the feel of a lever voting machine is immensely reassuring to voters! Unfortunately, they are immense machines, expensive to move and store, difficult to test, complex to maintain, and far from secure against vote fraud. Furthermore, a lever voting machine maintains no audit trail. With paper ballots, an it is possible to recount the votes if there is an allegation of fraud. With lever voting machines, there is nothing to recount! This could be a problem also because if someone votes incorrectly and pushes the lever down at the wrong time he or she can not go back and fix that vote.
I know that this doesn’t look like a single vote would sway an election that much but you figure that 1,000 people across the nation vote incorrectly for the same person. That could sway an election, probably not a presidential election but it might sway an election for senate or the house. I believe that a unified way of voting should be made, whether it is any type of voting.
Upon this defectiveness of Electoral system, current system is failure the way it mislead results and misrepresent population. This system is being used to choose our president for a long time and it is hard to find a replacement for it, but little effective change in the system is possible. If that is done, that change may bring huge breakthrough to the way we Americans see election.
over the past two centuries, the electoral college needs to be abolished and the election process needs to be changed. Keeping elections away from physical situations and making them into efficient, easy at home polling will make the election process smoother. Making the popular vote be the determining vote for president will keep more electors happier and will give them less reasons to lash out against the results. The recent elections have evolved from just electing the president, to being strong emotional situations that can possibly endanger many people when they end the wrong way. I think that if we can implement these two new ideas into the election process that it will keep electors safer, make them happier with the outcome, and will prevent elections from turning into bad
Some people believe the Electoral College system weakens the fundamental principle of a representative government- that one person should have one vote. If we switch to a popular vote, people will have a greater amount of saying than before. The candidates will have a better chance to get
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.
In fact, the Constitution contains provisions for direct and indirect election of the different parts of the legislature and the executive, based on overlapping but distinct electorates (Muller 1251). In addition, many people believe that, the Electoral College process of electing the president necessitates replacement with a direct popular vote to honor our democratic form of government in the United States. Moreover, in a democratic form of government, the authority rests with the people rather than in one or a few as in a totalitarian or authoritarian form of government. People believe a direct election supports the 14th Amendment principle of “one person, one vote” (Wagner 577). Therefore, the winner-take-all system inaccurately represents the will of the American citizens since not all candidates garner any electoral votes. On the other hand, a popular vote for the president could lead to many runoffs if neither candidate reaches a majority, creating a bigger opportunity for voter fraud and manipulation of the vote, which would not truly represent the will of the people, states, or country. The Electoral College sometimes fails to represent the national popular vote because states use the winner-take-all approach and not some proportional method for the representation of its voters. However, the Founding Fathers were not too keen on
I think we should remove the Electoral College. This would allow for each vote to be equal rather than making each state have equal say. Most people do
Secondly, do you agree with election 2000? I surely don't, I mean the wrong president won the election. Gore received 500,000 more votes than Bush. But who won the election, Bush. All because of a policy called the Electoral College. It is a very controversial issue. I know that many people are unhappy about this election. I thought we were a democracy! And we choose are president, not electors.
...lity of the votes (Shugart 632). Each states would be important under such a system, as candidates would be forced to address as many voters as possible, not just "voting blocs" that could swing a plurality in the state and, therefore, the entire state. More people would participate in elections because they would know that every vote did indeed count.
Although, it is remotely possible in a very close election that there will not be one candidate receiving 270 electoral votes, in which case the House of Representatives chooses the President. In this scenario, each state has merely one vote each to decide the presidency out of the top three contenders for the office. The Senate chooses the vice president out of the top two contenders. Many people feel that this system is outdated, unfair and/or biased; that it should be replaced with the popular voting system. Unfortunately, it is not as simple as stating what “has to be done”....
Factors of Ohio’s election system included redistricting reform, early voting, the voting registration process and provisional ballots. Ohio’s electoral system may be similar to the national governments, but it still has lots of work to be done. One main factor that differs is the redistricting. Ohioans believe the districting needs to be changed. Just last election, the Ohio people passed Issue 1 which had to do with redistrict for voting. The issue was voted for by the majority of the Ohio people (Ballotpedia). Besides redistricting, the other electoral system factors are the same as the national government. The statistics are still relevantly low in voter turnouts, early voting, and registering to
There have been several occasions throughout America’s history where voter fraud has changed the outcome of an election. For example, “a 2010 Kansas election ended with a one vote margin where 50 of the winning side votes were cast illegally by citizens of Somalia (Hans Von Spankovsky).” Another example is when “a 1996 congressional race in California was almost overturned by hundreds of votes cast illegally by noncitizens (Hans Von Spankovsky).” Voter ID laws are a sensible precaution to voting. Voter id laws eliminate all forms of voter fraud and restore integrity to elections, Government issued photo ids are inexpensive and easy to obtain, and voter id laws don’t restrict the right to vote and restore confidence to voters.
...lso speaks of the instances where the system had failed to accurately represent the national popular will’s vote and goes into depth about each instance. Obviously this article is against the Electoral College and it gives many points in support of the anti-electoral college supporters. In conclusion of his article he does mention that this voting system has worked well throughout the years, but believes that it is not necessary because of the reasons that the Electoral College was established is no longer an issue in today’s world. So therefore the voting system is outdated. My use for this article in my research regarding the Electoral College debate will strengthen my argument against the Electoral College. It will be useful because of the in-depth explanations of each instance in which the current voting system failed to represent the national popular will.
As the new digital era has risen so has a new way of voting; online voting. Even though online voting is more convenient, lower cost, and quicker it could also lead to hackers stealing an entire election or an entire part of the voting public left out. The vote and voice of those without access to computers, persons living in poverty or those without technology knowledge will be missed.
Voting is the easiest and simplest way of public participation, as well as making the voters feel like they are directly involved in the process. Certain aspects, such as the Electoral College, eliminate this feeling of involvement. The best way for elections to work would be a nationwide popular vote. This would bring a meaning to the term “true democracy” and will get the people, as a whole, the chance to participate in electing the highest officials.
The action of voting is such important role in how our country is going to be developed, especially effects on the economy, foreign relationships, society, etc. People are becoming much involved in politics, which is extraordinary because it means that the people are understanding how important their vote is and how it brings change to the issues that truly bother them. Many citizens don’t vote because they are either lazy or too busy, they either have jobs, classes, families, or other responsibilities take care of, but voting is a responsibility that should be attended. Voting could be the thing to prevent awful political leader’s to be put in office who are not focusing on what’s truly important, which is the people, which means that