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Controversy over electoral college
The United States electoral system
The United States electoral system
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Tuesday, November seventh, the year 2000; fourteen years ago, millions upon millions of Americans cast their ballot for either Democratic candidate Al Gore or Republican George W. Bush for the presidency. Later in the election process the public would learn that Al Gore had won the popular vote of the nation. Also, the public learned that despite this fact, Bush had won the majority of the electoral votes, resulting in him becoming the next president of the United States. This event left many people questioning the legitimacy of the system for selecting a president, the Electoral College.
The Electoral College is an organized group of electors that has been in place since the founding fathers wrote the constitution. At this early stage in this nation’s history, the United States was a fresh, new nation with recently gained independence from the English. It was made up of 13 states which included approximately four million people, all of whom distrusted a central government and political parties (Kimberling). Finding a method that was both logical and accepted to elect a president was a pressing task at hand.
One idea the founding fathers had was Congress being in charge of electing the president (Kimberling). This however was rejected because this could lead to corruption and reflect the agenda of the congress member instead of the will of the people (“Electoral System”). The second suggestion was having the state legislatures each cast a vote representing their state; however, was rejected because it was thought that giving the state governments this kind of power would erode the concept of a federal government (Kimberling). As well as these ideas, there was also much discussion about whether or not a direct vote would be th...
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"How the Electoral College Works." HowStuffWorks. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
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"Presidency: 10 Arguments in Favor of Keeping the Electoral College -- Refuted!" History News Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
"U. S. Electoral College, Official - What Is the Electoral College?" U.S. Electoral College. National Archives and Records Administration, n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.
"U.S. Constitution." Constitutional Topic: The Electoral College. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
United States Constitution Amend. 12
Originating in 1787, the Electoral College was created as the official body within American politics that elects the president and vice president. The decision of who will win is based off the vote totals in each state, and “the founding fathers established it in the constitution as a compromise between election of the president by a vote in Congress and election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens.” (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, “What is the Electoral College?”). During this time, the job of the Electoral College was to make peace between differing states and federal interest groups, provide popular participation in elections, give a vote to less populated states, and keep the president’s powers separate from Congress.
During and after the turmoil of the American Revolution, the people of America, both the rich and the poor, the powerful and the meek, strove to create a new system of government that would guide them during their unsure beginning. This first structure was called the Articles of Confederation, but it was ineffective, restricted, and weak. It was decided to create a new structure to guide the country. However, before a new constitution could be agreed upon, many aspects of life in America would have to be considered. The foremost apprehensions many Americans had concerning this new federal system included fear of the government limiting or endangering their inalienable rights, concern that the government’s power would be unbalanced, both within its branches and in comparison to the public, and trepidation that the voice of the people would not be heard within the government.
The Electoral College has been the favored method by the United States to elect the president for many years. When the College was first created in 1787 it was seen as an efficient and reliable way to vote the president into office. It has been more than 2 centuries since this method of electing was chosen, and many things have changed in U.S. society. The Electoral College is failing to keep up with these advancements in society and a new method must be chosen soon. Throughout the almost 2 and a half centuries since the beginning of the Electoral College there has been a large change in population.
The election took place on Nov 7, 2000. Under our electoral college system each state votes for our new president separately, a winner is then declared in each state and is awarded “electoral votes” that is equal to the states number of representatives in the House and Senate. Gore led Bush 266-246 and 270 votes are required for victory. Florida with 25 electoral votes did not have an official winner because the result was inside of the margin of error for machine counting.
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.
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.
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 Constitutional Convention of 1787 gave birth to the Electoral College system. The Electoral College system can be briefly described as a system where voters are able to vote for candidates(electors) on election day. Electors then cast their vote for a candidate in their respective party. Our Founding Fathers described the electoral college system in Article
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.
When the Framers were drafting the presidential selection procedure of the Constitution in 1787, they presented an artful compromise to the issue of direct election. With the new country spanning thousands of miles along the Atlantic coast and barely connected by transportation or communication, it was impractical if not impossible to distribute information widely enough for every citizen to make an informed choice (Kimberling). In a direct election, this lack of knowledge about candidates living in other states would inevitably result in citizens voting for the candidate they knew the most about. Because the larger states have considerable more voters, presidents would be elected not for their political beliefs, but for their place of residence. Given the inability to spread information extensively, the Framers compromised by adopting the idea of representation. The people up and down the country would vote for local delegates with whom they were familiar with. These electors would then elect a president “pre-eminent for ability and virtue” (Hamilton 333). By devising the Electoral College, the Framers ensured th...
By the late eighteenth century, America found itself independent from England; which was a welcomed change, but also brought with it, its own set of challenges. The newly formed National Government was acting under the Articles of Confederation, which established a “firm league of friendship” between the states, but did not give adequate power to run the country. To ensure the young nation could continue independently, Congress called for a Federal Convention to convene in Philadelphia to address the deficiencies in the Articles of Confederation. While the Congress only authorized the convention to revise and amend the Articles the delegates quickly set out to develop a whole new Constitution for the country. Unlike the Articles of Confederation, the new Constitution called for a national Executive, which was strongly debated by the delegates. There were forces on both sides of the issue trying to shape the office to meet their ideology. The Federalists, who sought a strong central government, favored a strong National Executive which they believed would ensure the country’s safety from both internal and external threats. The Anti Federalists preferred to have more power in the hands of the states, and therefore tried to weaken the national Executive. Throughout the convention and even after, during the ratification debates, there was a fear, by some, that the newly created office of the president would be too powerful and lean too much toward monarchy.
Before continue to discuss about the Electoral College, we must first understand the history of Electoral College and the concept of how does it work. The Electoral College system was established in Article II, section I, of the U.S. Constitution.
Beginning at the time the Electoral College was put into place, many debated over its pros and cons. As time has gone on, more and more people have begun to show support for a change in the system (Saad 2013). After George W. Bush defeated AL Gore in the 2000 election by losing popular vote, but winning the college, leading to a “legal recount contest”, many began to question the fairness of the college (Cohen, 2010). This marked the “third time in the nation’s history” the less popular candidate has taken office (Longley). However, the Electoral College should remain in place because it ensures the continuation of a Representative Democracy, maintains a two party system, and because currently no plausible plan has been produced as a means of replacement.
Ballaro, Beverly Bourassa, Cheryl. "Electoral College: An Overview."Points Of View: Electoral College (2013): 1. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 13 Dec. 2013.
Approximately 200 years ago, our founding fathers of America began a tedious process of carefully designing and crafting an idea to solve the problem of selecting president. Soon, the idea of citizens indirectly selecting the president soon bloomed into the formation of the initial College of Electors. Although some individuals cherish this firm establishment, I firmly think the Electoral College fails to balance power and politically sustain our nation.