Strengths And Weaknesses Of The Electoral System

Though a democracy, Americans do not directly elect their president. Representatives are elected by the population of each state, who are then tasked with choosing a presidential candidate typically based off of a majority vote. Most states, excluding Maine and Nebraska, operate on a winner take all basis, meaning that whoever wins the majority votes in the states, wins all of the electoral votes for that state. However, if there fails to be an absolute majority in electoral votes, the House of Representatives elects the president with only one vote for state. The number of electors in the College per state is determined by the number of representatives in the House plus the number of representatives in the Senate, giving states with larger populations more electors. This has presented as both a strength and a weakness in the United States electoral process. Supporters of the electoral system believe that
One weakness that happens, although infrequently, is that the candidate who wins the election may not necessarily have won the popular vote. If a president loses with only a small disparity in the votes, he is not rewarded in any way. Because of this it is possible that a larger amount of the population votes or at least a bare majority, votes to elect someone other than the person who wins the most electoral votes. The second example of this in all of history is the 2000 election between Bush and Gore. The close race led to a recount in Florida which was ultimately ruled unconstitutional and caused a lot of tension in regards to the electoral process. Many believed this was proof that the current electoral process is unsuitable for America. This winner take all method makes it extremely difficult to branch away from the typical two party partisanship that rules our country, therefore making it more difficult to express newer interests and ideals in the