The Electoral College Voting Process

2032 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Controversies with the electoral college

Does the Electoral College Voting process today effectively embody the ideas the founding fathers wanted?
When the Electoral College process was created in 1789 along with the Constitution, the founding fathers Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and John Adams created the Electoral College process for three main purposes However. in politics today, presidential candidates are working around the main principles and purposes of why Electoral College process was created and manipulation of certain factions is still occurring.. One purpose was to prevent presidential candidates from manipulating the voters into voting for them in the election. Another purpose that the founding fathers had in mind while creating the Electoral College process, was that they did not trust the citizens of the United States to choose the right president to represent the country and lead the country. The founding fathers did not trust direct democracy to choose the president; they believe one group with the same interest would dictate the outcome of the election if the election process was a direct democracy. The third purpose that the founding fathers had when creating the Electoral College process was to give smaller states within the United States a bigger voice in the election. However, the vision that the founding fathers had embodied while creating the election process, has been altered in this day and age. Politicians have found loopholes around the Electoral College process to persuade the voters into voting for them even if their qualifications do not qualify them to be president.
One of the main reasons the founding fathers set up the election process the way they did was to make sure that whoever wins the Electoral College ...

... middle of paper ...

...when developing the electoral process. It effectively embodies still to this day the prevention of a direct democracy because It has been shown throughout U.S history that you can win the popular vote but lose the election. However, the electoral college process does not embody effectively the prevent on faction and presidential candidates manipulation the election, which is one of the main reasons why the Founding Fathers set up the Electoral College Process the way they did. Factions still persuade the public to vote for a certain candidate sing commercials to target states with the most electoral college votes , and some smaller states that swing in the their presidential candidate’s favor. This show that the Electoral College process is not very effective some of the fields that the founding fathers wanted it to be effective in such a prevention of manipulation.

Show More
Related

  • The Electoral College Vs. Popular Vote

    1203 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Alexander Hamilton's The Federalist Paper No. 68

    636 Words  | 2 Pages

    For the most part, the connection between the Presidential election process of 1788 and the present Presidential election procedure are both determined through the Electoral College process. The Electoral College process made sure people played a crucial role in the selection of the President of the United States. As was previously stated, I have expounded on the process of how the President is elected; the vital role that people played in the election, and the responsibility of the House of Representatives in response to the

    Read More

  • Electoral College is Wrong

    460 Words  | 1 Pages

    If the candidate doesn't win the electors' votes, then they will not have a chance of winning.

    Read More

  • Unfairness in the Electoral College

    798 Words  | 2 Pages

    Since Electoral system can change outcome of the election, it often misrepresent the will of citizens. In electoral system, candidate with most popular votes in states wins electoral votes regardless of difference in popular votes. That means, people living in urban areas support one candidate, they could easily mislead the result of popular votes. Smaller area with more population often drag result on one side than larger part with less population. Either it is a presidential election of 1888 or 2000 election, candidates with higher electoral votes happen to win against people’s popular votes. Candidate of election of 1888, Benjamin Harrison won seat in white house even if he lost popular votes because he carried electoral votes on his side. Furthermore, margin between electoral votes was less than one percent, but still Harrison became president despite of 100,000 popular votes difference! Election of 2000 came up with same scenario. Gore won people’s support but lost electors’; therefore he had to accept G.W.Bush as President. After all this, what we can believe is indeed, the Electoral College is such an unreliable representative of the...

    Read More

  • Electoral College Dbq

    695 Words  | 2 Pages

    Through these almost 2 and a half centuries since the beginning of the Electoral College there has been a large change in population. Since then, the U.S. has grown from a mere 4 million to a looming number of around 300 million people. It is because of this population increase that the Electoral College has become obsolete and is beginning to fail at its duties. Alexander Hamilton was a Federalist and a supporter of the Electoral College who was quoted as saying “It was also desirable to afford as little opportunity as possible to tumult and disorder/ promise an effectual security against this mischief” (Document #1). The College would have prevented tumult and disorder for

    Read More

  • Pro Electoral College

    1757 Words  | 4 Pages

    Due to the discrepancy between the winner of the popular vote and the winner of the electoral college in the most recent election, there has been a lot of talk about eliminating the electoral college and moving to a direct popular vote. While many people argue for this shift, usually with little knowledge of what a popular vote election would look like, there are also many citizens who are opposed to the idea. In our polarized political climate, this fact is not surprising. Those who support the electoral college defend it by claiming that it is not only constitutional, but it also represents the whole county, and makes for a more certain, legitimate election process.

    Read More

  • Essay On The Electoral College Should Be Abolished

    1252 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Electoral College was created by the framers at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. They believe that it wasn’t a good idea for the people to elect the president directly because they did not trust that voters would have enough information to make a good choice. The Electoral College basically chooses who the next president will be since it takes away our freedom to vote. The Electoral College should be abolished because it’s undemocratic, the small states are overrepresented, and it hurts third parties. The United States of America is a democratic country that is characterized by the equality of rights and privileges.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On The Electoral College

    1115 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Electoral College Argumentative Essay

    1378 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Electoral College Persuasive Essay

    1347 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Electoral College: The Value Of The Electoral College

    945 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Electoral College

    379 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Electoral College is not important in choosing the president of the United States. I agree with this because it should matter what the voters say, this is a democracy and it should be the people’s final choice, and if the Electoral College changes the voters’ choice then they will be the ones to blame if our country goes haywire.

    Read More

  • Questioning the Electoral College System

    1971 Words  | 4 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Should Electoral College Be Abolished Dbq Essay

    599 Words  | 2 Pages

    If the Electoral College stays, then the people will not be able to choose the right person for the right job. So this shows how it can cause so many people to be frustrated with the Electoral College, which does not really help the country at all, in terms of the choosing a new President.

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of The Electoral College

    2215 Words  | 5 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about The Electoral College Voting Process

Open Document