Redefining the Electoral College
How it works
While reciting the Pledge of Allegiance freedom, liberty, and justice for all are words declared by most Americans at some point throughout their lives. Americans hold these words at the highest respect and as a necessity to uphold at the democratic republic as well as principles that separate monarchies from republics. The Electoral College is, "the name that was given to the body of representatives elected by voters in each state to elect the president and vice president" (American Democracy Now, p.
45). According to the Huffington Post, the electoral college is "made up of 538 electors who cast votes to decide the President and Vice-President of the United States. When voters go to the polls, they will be choosing which candidate receives their state's electors. The candidate who receives a majority of electoral votes (270) wins the Presidency. The number 538 is the sum of the nation's 435 Representatives, 100 Senators, and 3 electors given to the District of Columbia" (Huffington Post, 2016). It was built in a Constitutional Convention by the framers with a specific end goal to, give smaller states an equal voting opportunity and help express states interest and requirements for their leaders to provide. The Electoral College is the technique of indirectly choosing the president of the United States, therefore, the electoral college is one of the most vital things to the United States as a whole, it causes us to find out who will be running our nation.The Vice President and President are two of the most vital individuals here in the United States since they have a considerable measure of say on what goes in our country.
Presented in Article II of the Constitution, it states that "each state... may direct, a number of electors, equal; to the whole number of senators and representatives" (History.com, 2010). Many have their own opinions on the Electoral College, but modifications need to be made because nothing is like it was back in the 18th century when the electoral college was made. When voting technically our votes don't count because we're voting for the elector, not the president. The electors could decide who our next president is regardless if they won the majority of the popular vote or not which is not the best set up. How important our vote depends on how big our state is or the state that you're voting in and sometimes the smaller states votes are more powerful than the bigger states and in some states. If the candidate who wins most of the popular votes takes all of the electors sucks because usually the same party wins the majority and takes all the votes. This means the votes that we cast really didn't have an impact. When our framers were looking for ways to elect our presidents they started with things like, "selection by Congress, by governors of the states, by the state legislators", but these things did not work after they found that the state's interest was not properly represented (Amar, 2016).
Although the Electoral College is a good way to represent out states beliefs and interest I do not believe that we should keep it anymore. Reasons being back then they didn't have the technology that we have now to do research on the candidates, there are approximately 7 million people in this world and were letting 538 people decide on the president, and I feel it gives some states too much power. With the technology that we have now there is so much research that we can do to ensure we're voting for the correct candidate that the founding fathers didn't have. Alexander Hamilton said in the Federalist Papers that he saw the electors being "free from any sinister bias" due to their transparent bias. What Hamilton meant was back when they established the Electoral College and the electors, they specifically did it because they didn't want uneducated people voting and the electors were supposed to ensure that whoever was entering office was more than qualified. I feel that the two political party votes should not only depend on the electoral votes and therefore it cause the election to be decided by a handful of states that have more power than others. And lastly there are millions and millions of people in the world and we let 538 people elect our president, so where do the other votes go. If one candidate wins the popular vote but not the electoral why should they lose the whole election? I feel our votes should be more accounted for.
In conclusion, the Electoral College is good, but I think modifications definitely need to be made for future elections. At the point when in big states individuals tend to fall behind their identity voting in favor of precisely. Many individuals back then didn't get the data they deserved about the candidates they are voting in favor of, as they do now. With these simple modifications maybe it can help better the outcome of the elections. (Amar, 2016) I believe if our society fights for our rights we will have a modified Electoral College or no electoral college that will fit the presidents and nation better.
Redefining the Electoral College. (2019, Nov 22). Retrieved from https://papersowl.com/examples/redefining-the-electoral-college/