Disadvantages Of The Electoral College
A question that many Americans pondered upon when they were trying to ratify the Constitution was, “How would the United States choose a president?” At the Constitutional Convention, many delegates believed that Americans did not have enough wisdom and knowledge to elect a president and others believed that the state legislators were unable to put aside their personal needs to account for the national interest (Monroe 2016). Thus they came up with a system called the electoral college. The electoral college is an institution that elects the president and the vice president of the U.S. every four years. This system is a highly complicated institution where each state selects electors. Electors are delegates that have a well known judgement of
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choosing the president. The electoral college consists of 538 electors and a majority of 270 electoral votes are needed to elect a president. Each state has been assigned a specific number of electoral votes based on the population size. The number of electors is proportionate to the members in the House of Representatives plus the two senators of that state. The people vote state by state for their electors. Today, the electors usually cast votes for the candidate that has won the state. Over the years, the electoral college has become an increasingly controversial topic. A large group of people believe that the electoral college is not efficient and should not be used as a method of electing a president. The electoral college has many advantages and disadvantages, however in today's political system, it should be preserved.
One of the most obvious problem of the electoral college is that the president can win the majority vote but still lose. This idea was evident in the 2000 presidential elections between Al Gore and George Bush. In 2000, George W. Bush was victorious with electoral votes of 271 to 266 (McBride 2006). Al Gore, however, has won the popular vote nationwide by more than 500,000 votes but still lost to Bush. Although Al Gore had majority of the popularity votes, he did not go on to win the electoral votes. This questions the rights of the public vote and whether they have a bigger voice than the electoral college system; what the majority voted for doesn’t necessarily win the presidential elections. As a result, this goes against democracy and showcases the idea that not all the votes are equally important. It was undemocratic because rule of the majority was being ignored and so, people began to believe that their votes did not contribute to anything during the elections.
Another disadvantage of the electoral college is that small states and swing states have more power. Swing states are US states that are essential in determining the overall result of the elections and has similar levels of support among voters for the two political parties (Kimberling 2008). Some of the states have a history of voting constantly for the Democrats or the Republican party. Candidates spend less time in these states because they already have an idea which candidate is going to win that state, therefore, they go to states that can go either way. These states receive more attention and more time is focused on them by the candidates. In political elections, one man does not necessarily mean one vote. There is an overrepresentation of small states in the electoral college. For example, in the 2010 Census, a citizen in Wyoming has more than triple the weight in electoral college votes than one individual in California. Therefore, the small states are being favored more because they have more electoral votes per person. This once again makes the other states with much less electoral votes have less attention since candidates also try to go to states with bigger numbers in the electoral college.
Another disadvantage of the electoral college is that it doesn't take into consideration the voter turnout of that state but just the number of citizens living in that state.
Some states have more electoral votes due to the population size but there voter turnout is much smaller in comparison because the number of votes in a specific state varies. For example the voter turnout in Ohio could be greater than the voter turnout in Missouri, even though Ohio has more electoral votes and counts more than the votes for Missouri. The electoral college also decreases the voter turnout because many people feel like their vote does not matter. For instance, many believe that voting for a Democrat in a Republican dominated state is useless and thus a large amount of people do not cast their …show more content…
vote.
An advantage of the electoral college is that it protects the interests of the minority. It helps preserves the rights and voices of the states that have lower populations and also those belonging to rural areas.“The Electoral College is a good antidote to the poison of regionalism because it forces presidential candidates to seek support throughout the nation. By making sure no state will be left behind, it provides a measure of coherence to our nation”, states John Sample, the director for Representative Government at the Cato Institute. If the electoral college does not exist, then the presidential candidates would be busy trying to get votes from the populated and urban states instead of the small states. However through its existence, candidates are trying to win each state and it thus creates this unity and equality for all the states.
Another advantage of the electoral college is that it preserves federalism. When the Founding Fathers first created the concept of electoral college, they wanted to enforce a division and sharing of powers between the state and national government (Muller 2012). The electoral college exhibits federalism by allowing the states to have the power to elect the president. They can do that by being a specific number of electoral votes that can help lead a candidate to victory. Preserving federalism is essential because although each state showcases different needs and interests, the people can however, come together as one nation in order to make a decision for the country-electing a president.
The electoral college also prevents tyranny from the majority. As the Founding Fathers were creating the Constitution, they knew the dangers of placing power into the hands of a group of people. They knew that it was not a good idea to place unlimited power to people when electing the president because it could result in tyranny of the majority. James Madison in Federalist Paper 51 states, "It is of great importance in a republic not only to guard the society against the oppression of its rulers but to guard one part of the society against the injustice of the other part. If a majority be united by a common interest, the rights of the minority will be insecure." Madison explains that different interest exist in different classes of citizens. The society would suffer greatly because the interests of the majority would overpower the minority and the rights of the minority would be trampled upon by the majority. If our government was based on popular vote and what the majority wanted then we would have pure democracy instead of a republic. Thus the electoral college system allows the voices of both the majority and minority to be heard when electing the president.
The electoral college should still be preserved today. People argue that there has been instances in the past that even after winning the majority votes, a candidate is still unable to win the elections. However, this has happened four times in the history of the United States, with the 2000 election being the most recent one. Thus there has been about 7% occurrence of this situation which is very rare and is not common. The electoral college system is the most efficient way to elect the president of the United States because it promotes federalism and allows the voices of both the majority and minority to be heard. The Electoral College also allows the candidates to go to many parts of the country and persuade the people to cast a vote for them. This has made the political parties more inclusive as time went on and less extreme. By abolishing the electoral college system, it is encouraging third parties. By having multiple candidates, it would be more difficult to have a majority alliance and can possibly disrupt the electorate. People would have a harder time coming up with a decision on which candidate to elect and thus this can lead to a lack of unity. The people would have less affinity with one another due to many parties and thus it will be more complicated choosing a president with a majority support. Without the electoral college, many close elections would require having recounts in every state.
This can lead to a delay for many months and it would not be efficient because there are millions of votes to be counted. The electoral college also allows the candidates to focus on all states, not just the big states which creates a national appeal not just a regional one. Thus, the winner can have the support of many states not just a small number of populated ones. This is helpful because it puts importance on all the states and showcases the idea that they all have a certain power in ultimately choosing the winning
candidate. The electoral college system has continuously become a problematic issue over the years. Many people oppose the current institution and would like to change many of the structures that define it. People would rather abolish it and have a popular vote to determine the winning candidate in the elections. However a popular vote does not make the voting process fair. It promotes more separation between the majority and minority. The electoral college was founded in 1787 and has been with us for many years. It truly showcased the vision that the founding fathers had for our country. It helps preserve federalism, prevent tyranny of the majority, protects the interests of the minority etc. The electoral college system has been in our country for over 200 years. There is a reason that it is still in progress today. Under this system, we were able to get numerous presidents for many years. It gives us a president that receives most of the ample support from the people. Therefore, the electoral college should be preserved now and also in the future.
choosing the president. The electoral college consists of 538 electors and a majority of 270 electoral votes are needed to elect a president. Each state has been assigned a specific number of electoral votes based on the population size. The number of electors is proportionate to the members in the House of Representatives plus the two senators of that state. The people vote state by state for their electors. Today, the electors usually cast votes for the candidate that has won the state. Over the years, the electoral college has become an increasingly controversial topic. A large group of people believe that the electoral college is not efficient and should not be used as a method of electing a president. The electoral college has many advantages and disadvantages, however in today's political system, it should be preserved.
One of the most obvious problem of the electoral college is that the president can win the majority vote but still lose. This idea was evident in the 2000 presidential elections between Al Gore and George Bush. In 2000, George W. Bush was victorious with electoral votes of 271 to 266 (McBride 2006). Al Gore, however, has won the popular vote nationwide by more than 500,000 votes but still lost to Bush. Although Al Gore had majority of the popularity votes, he did not go on to win the electoral votes. This questions the rights of the public vote and whether they have a bigger voice than the electoral college system; what the majority voted for doesn’t necessarily win the presidential elections. As a result, this goes against democracy and showcases the idea that not all the votes are equally important. It was undemocratic because rule of the majority was being ignored and so, people began to believe that their votes did not contribute to anything during the elections.
Another disadvantage of the electoral college is that small states and swing states have more power. Swing states are US states that are essential in determining the overall result of the elections and has similar levels of support among voters for the two political parties (Kimberling 2008). Some of the states have a history of voting constantly for the Democrats or the Republican party. Candidates spend less time in these states because they already have an idea which candidate is going to win that state, therefore, they go to states that can go either way. These states receive more attention and more time is focused on them by the candidates. In political elections, one man does not necessarily mean one vote. There is an overrepresentation of small states in the electoral college. For example, in the 2010 Census, a citizen in Wyoming has more than triple the weight in electoral college votes than one individual in California. Therefore, the small states are being favored more because they have more electoral votes per person. This once again makes the other states with much less electoral votes have less attention since candidates also try to go to states with bigger numbers in the electoral college.
Another disadvantage of the electoral college is that it doesn't take into consideration the voter turnout of that state but just the number of citizens living in that state.
Some states have more electoral votes due to the population size but there voter turnout is much smaller in comparison because the number of votes in a specific state varies. For example the voter turnout in Ohio could be greater than the voter turnout in Missouri, even though Ohio has more electoral votes and counts more than the votes for Missouri. The electoral college also decreases the voter turnout because many people feel like their vote does not matter. For instance, many believe that voting for a Democrat in a Republican dominated state is useless and thus a large amount of people do not cast their …show more content…
vote.
An advantage of the electoral college is that it protects the interests of the minority. It helps preserves the rights and voices of the states that have lower populations and also those belonging to rural areas.“The Electoral College is a good antidote to the poison of regionalism because it forces presidential candidates to seek support throughout the nation. By making sure no state will be left behind, it provides a measure of coherence to our nation”, states John Sample, the director for Representative Government at the Cato Institute. If the electoral college does not exist, then the presidential candidates would be busy trying to get votes from the populated and urban states instead of the small states. However through its existence, candidates are trying to win each state and it thus creates this unity and equality for all the states.
Another advantage of the electoral college is that it preserves federalism. When the Founding Fathers first created the concept of electoral college, they wanted to enforce a division and sharing of powers between the state and national government (Muller 2012). The electoral college exhibits federalism by allowing the states to have the power to elect the president. They can do that by being a specific number of electoral votes that can help lead a candidate to victory. Preserving federalism is essential because although each state showcases different needs and interests, the people can however, come together as one nation in order to make a decision for the country-electing a president.
The electoral college also prevents tyranny from the majority. As the Founding Fathers were creating the Constitution, they knew the dangers of placing power into the hands of a group of people. They knew that it was not a good idea to place unlimited power to people when electing the president because it could result in tyranny of the majority. James Madison in Federalist Paper 51 states, "It is of great importance in a republic not only to guard the society against the oppression of its rulers but to guard one part of the society against the injustice of the other part. If a majority be united by a common interest, the rights of the minority will be insecure." Madison explains that different interest exist in different classes of citizens. The society would suffer greatly because the interests of the majority would overpower the minority and the rights of the minority would be trampled upon by the majority. If our government was based on popular vote and what the majority wanted then we would have pure democracy instead of a republic. Thus the electoral college system allows the voices of both the majority and minority to be heard when electing the president.
The electoral college should still be preserved today. People argue that there has been instances in the past that even after winning the majority votes, a candidate is still unable to win the elections. However, this has happened four times in the history of the United States, with the 2000 election being the most recent one. Thus there has been about 7% occurrence of this situation which is very rare and is not common. The electoral college system is the most efficient way to elect the president of the United States because it promotes federalism and allows the voices of both the majority and minority to be heard. The Electoral College also allows the candidates to go to many parts of the country and persuade the people to cast a vote for them. This has made the political parties more inclusive as time went on and less extreme. By abolishing the electoral college system, it is encouraging third parties. By having multiple candidates, it would be more difficult to have a majority alliance and can possibly disrupt the electorate. People would have a harder time coming up with a decision on which candidate to elect and thus this can lead to a lack of unity. The people would have less affinity with one another due to many parties and thus it will be more complicated choosing a president with a majority support. Without the electoral college, many close elections would require having recounts in every state.
This can lead to a delay for many months and it would not be efficient because there are millions of votes to be counted. The electoral college also allows the candidates to focus on all states, not just the big states which creates a national appeal not just a regional one. Thus, the winner can have the support of many states not just a small number of populated ones. This is helpful because it puts importance on all the states and showcases the idea that they all have a certain power in ultimately choosing the winning
candidate. The electoral college system has continuously become a problematic issue over the years. Many people oppose the current institution and would like to change many of the structures that define it. People would rather abolish it and have a popular vote to determine the winning candidate in the elections. However a popular vote does not make the voting process fair. It promotes more separation between the majority and minority. The electoral college was founded in 1787 and has been with us for many years. It truly showcased the vision that the founding fathers had for our country. It helps preserve federalism, prevent tyranny of the majority, protects the interests of the minority etc. The electoral college system has been in our country for over 200 years. There is a reason that it is still in progress today. Under this system, we were able to get numerous presidents for many years. It gives us a president that receives most of the ample support from the people. Therefore, the electoral college should be preserved now and also in the future.