Electoral College Essay
Civics
The electoral college is the current system of voting used in the United States of America to elect the president. A body of electors chosen by the voters in each state to elect the President and vice President of the U.S. However, this system has its flaws. In 2000 the Bush vs Gore election truly showed the nation why the electoral college should be abolished and revised.
The electoral college is organized by state. Each state gets a certain number of electors, the people who vote in the electoral college. A state’s number of electors equals its number of senators and representatives combined. Every state has two senators. “The number of representatives is based on the population of the state, though every state has at least one representative. In addition, the District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.) gets three electors.” (Britannica). The United States has two main political groups, or parties (the Democrats and the Republicans). Each political party chooses a candidate for president and a candidate for vice president. In each state, each party also chooses a group, or slate, of electors. The electors promise to vote for their party’s candidates. When citizens vote for the candidates of one party, they are actually choosing that party’s electors for their state. “In most states, the party that wins the most popular votes sends all its electors to vote in the electoral college. (Maine and Nebraska choose electors slightly differently.) The electors for every state then vote for their party’s candidates.” (Britannica). The candidates with the most electoral votes becomes president and vice president.
The electoral college has its contributions and flaws. There are several advantages to the electoral college. First, it forces candidates to campaign in more diverse states. With a popular vote election, candidates would only campaign in the few largest cities. In 2012, for example, candidates spent a lot of time