The Purpose of the Electoral College

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Tuesday, November seventh, the year 2000; fourteen years ago, millions upon millions of Americans cast their ballot for either Democratic candidate Al Gore or Republican George W. Bush for the presidency. Later in the election process the public would learn that Al Gore had won the popular vote of the nation. Also, the public learned that despite this fact, Bush had won the majority of the electoral votes, resulting in him becoming the next president of the United States. This event left many people questioning the legitimacy of the system for selecting a president, the Electoral College.
The Electoral College is an organized group of electors that has been in place since the founding fathers wrote the constitution. At this early stage in this nation’s history, the United States was a fresh, new nation with recently gained independence from the English. It was made up of 13 states which included approximately four million people, all of whom distrusted a central government and political parties (Kimberling). Finding a method that was both logical and accepted to elect a president was a pressing task at hand.
One idea the founding fathers had was Congress being in charge of electing the president (Kimberling). This however was rejected because this could lead to corruption and reflect the agenda of the congress member instead of the will of the people (“Electoral System”). The second suggestion was having the state legislatures each cast a vote representing their state; however, was rejected because it was thought that giving the state governments this kind of power would erode the concept of a federal government (Kimberling). As well as these ideas, there was also much discussion about whether or not a direct vote would be th...

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...eb. 2014.

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"How the Electoral College Works." HowStuffWorks. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.

Kimberling, William C. "The Electoral College." Fec.gov. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.

"MinnPost." MinnPost. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.

"Presidency: 10 Arguments in Favor of Keeping the Electoral College -- Refuted!" History News Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.

"U. S. Electoral College, Official - What Is the Electoral College?" U.S. Electoral College. National Archives and Records Administration, n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.

"U.S. Constitution." Constitutional Topic: The Electoral College. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.

United States Constitution Amend. 12

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