Electoral College Essay

ELECTORAL COLLEGE ESSAY The electoral College and popular vote is a controversial topic that has been debated since its creation. The Electoral College can be beneficial by providing power to minority states; however, previous elections such as 2000 and 2016 have proven the it may be time for the Electoral College to be replaced. Electoral College The Electoral College is made up of individuals from each state who represent both political parties. Its function is to help elect a new president, the original function of the Electoral College was a system that allowed for both government and people to elect a new president. How and When it was Created? The Electoral College was created by the founding fathers in the twelfth amendment in the constitution of America in 1787. Before the electoral college was purposed, founding fathers debated many other ideas such as having congress elect the president and having the popular vote directly pick the president (Kimberling, W., n.d.). All ideas were eventually turned down for reasons such as too much government involvement and fear of citizens not being able to make accurate choices due to lack of information. Eventually a committee proposed that the president be indirectly elected by a group, a College of Electors (Kimberling, W., n.d.). Therefore, the College of Electors turned into the Electoral College to create the perfect balance between government and citizen involvement. Why was it Created? The Electoral College was created to help ensure that the presidential election was both fair for the government and the people. Founding fathers didn’t want the government to have the full say in the president, because that would contradict the democracy they fought for. They also ELECTORAL COLLEGE ESSAY didn’t want to leave the election up to the popular vote because of the lack of communication. Founding fathers feared that majority of states wouldn’t be able to make an accurate decision of who to vote for because they lacked the information needed due to no communication (Kimberling, W., n.d.). The Electoral College was also created to provide a voice for the states with smaller populations. For example, Montana is a very small populated state with a large percentage being farmers. Farmers want their interests protected while voting for a president and this wouldn’t happen with a popular vote; California would easy outvote Montana. This is why we have the Electoral College because it gives state representatives an opportunity to vote powerfully for a president who will support them. Electoral College vs Popular Vote The Electoral College works to provide a voice to states with smaller populations and further support federalism within our country. The popular vote is solely based on the citizens vote, and is the reason this is so highly debated. How Does Electoral College Operate? The Electoral College is composed of 538 electors, two senators from each state and then several from the House of Representatives based off of a state’s population. In the original draft, the choosing of Electors was left to the states, now Electors are generally voted or nominated by the political parties. However, each state has their own regulations for how electors are chosen (What is the Electoral College, 2016). States dictate how the Electoral voters can vote, ensuring the safety of citizens votes. Some states require that the Electoral voter places their vote according to the popularity vote within their state. Other states have no rules about who the Elector can vote for, giving them complete freedom (What is the Electoral College, 2016). The Electoral College in most states has a winner takes all policy, the presidential candidate who ELECTORAL COLLEGE ESSAY wins the state receives all of that states electoral college. The Electoral College will always override the popularity vote, but it rarely happens. To win the presidential election a president needs to win 270 of the Electoral votes. Consequences of Using Electoral College? The largest consequences of using the Electoral College is that is can seem unfair to many citizens because it overrides the popular vote and it is not the most reliable voting method. It can easily be misread or tampered with, causing many recounts and rechecking faulty technology. The biggest dispute over the Electoral College was in the election of 2000 when George W. Bush and Al Gore went head to head in the presidential race. Gore won the popular vote from Bush by half a million votes, but Gore still lost which was the fourth time the popular vote was overruled (The Election of 2000, n.d.). On top of Bush losing the popular vote, it was never clear that he won the Electoral College. Gore has earned around 255 Electoral votes while Bush had 246, it all came down to who would win Florida for 25 votes (The Election of 2000, n.d.). Gores team asked for a recount, which was agreed upon by the Florida supreme court. However, the Bush campaign appealed this decision and eventually won the presidency in the supreme court with a vote 5-4 in favor of Bush (The Election of 2000, n.d.). Basically, the entire election was decided on the supreme court’s decision, which left many Americans frustrated with the Electoral College. This was the first time that the Electoral College really failed for multiple reasons such as butterfly ballots, errors with punch card machines, and no method to recount votes (The Election of 2000, n.d.). Why do we Still use the Electoral College? With the past 2016 election, many began to question why we have the Electoral College. It made many voters feel as if their vote did not matter because the Electoral College ELECTORAL COLLEGE ESSAY overruled the popular vote. Although it has happened rarely, it brings into question why we still use the Electoral College. There could be several reasons such as republicans and democrats never being able to decide on a new plan. Also, many fear that a new plan will not help Americans or our voting system. Electoral College does provide beneficial factors such as protecting minorities and involving state government.