The Electoral College. It’s something you don’t hear people talking about often. Let me tell you what it is. An Electoral College is a group of people that cast their vote for a state. States usually have multiple electors. For example, California has 55 electors (making it the state with the most electoral votes), meaning they put in 55 votes in for whichever party they are for. California is a democratic state, which puts all 55 votes with the democratic candidate. Texas is the next state with the most electors, coming in with 38. Texas is a republican state, so the republican candidate gets Texas’ vote. The way a state is democratic or republican is from the winner takes all system. Let’s say Trump has 3 votes, and the Hillary has 4, the candidate that has more votes takes all the votes from that state, making them have 7 electoral votes. There is also something called a swing state. A swing state is when a state has an equal amount votes for either candidate.The swing states are Ohio, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, Iowa, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida. …show more content…
You are probably wondering, why does having electoral votes matter?
Well, there is 538 total electoral votes. In order to be president, you have to have the majority, of at least 270 electoral votes. When a candidate has 270 electoral votes, they are president. Let’s say the candidates get a tie, or extremely close to a tie, who would be president then? According to 270 To Win, “If neither candidate gets a majority of the 538 electoral votes, the election for President is decided in the House of Representatives, with each state delegation having one vote.”. An elector is able to vote on what the population of their district wants, or what they
want. Now that we know what the Electoral College is, what is so great about it? The electoral college keeps everybody’s interest in the president. It makes sure that specific regions have interest in the president. When people care about the president, it makes a successful president. According to Richard Posner from Slate, “This is a desirable result because a candidate with only regional appeal is unlikely to be a successful president.”. Then people begin to think that their voice doesn't matter in voting. Another reason that the Electoral College is the greater system is because it makes the candidates pay attention to all the states. ScienceBuzz says, “The Electoral College forces candidates to pay attention to all voters. They can’t just focus on a few big cities.”. It makes the candidates have to go visit smaller states and towns to try and get their votes. One more pro about the Electoral College is that it keeps the election somewhat fair. Because, when an elector votes in a smaller state, their voice is almost equally as big as an elector’s vote in a bigger, more populated state. This prevents larger states from practically deciding the whole election. Now that we know the pros with the Electoral College, let’s see what the cons are. One of the cons is that the elector is able to choose their vote based on what the population wants or what the elector wants. That is a con because I believe it makes the elector have a bigger voice than just a regular voter. It makes people think their vote doesn’t matter. Then people stop voting because they don’t think their vote will do anything, it encourages them the stay home other than to go out and vote. It is called “Faithless Electors”. Another reason the electoral college is bad, is that candidates focus on swing states. According to MuslimDemocrats.org, “Because candidates focus so heavily on swing states, voters in safe states feel that their issues are ignored and their votes are taken for granted by the two major political parties.”. One last reason the electoral college isn’t the best is because it’s confusing. When you ask people what an Electoral College, they generally have no clue what it is, or have very little knowledge on it. Who makes a winner takes all system? That makes no sense. If in one state a candidate has 4 votes, and the other candidate has 6, they should get the votes. Not just winner takes all the votes from that state. That is so confusing. The least amount of states that you need to get majority of electoral votes is 11. The way you get 11 is add all the electoral votes from the states with the most. Those states are California(55), Texas(38), Florida(29), New York(29), Pennsylvania(20), Illinois(20), Ohio(18), Michigan(16), Georgia(16), North Carolina(15) and New Jersey(14). Did you know that Hillary has already practically won? From all the states that we know for sure is democratic, she already would have 200 votes. Then if Hillary got all the states that are leaning towards democrats, she would already have 272 votes. Whereas Trump, his is a different story. With all of the states that we know for sure is republican, he only has 157 votes. He would need all the votes from the states that are leaning towards republican, which only brings him to 179 votes. He would need to somehow convince all the swing states to go republican. Even with all the swing states, he would only have 260, including swing states, safe states and leaning states. So, in my opinion,Trump is done, and Hillary has won. So, all this talk about the electoral college, now I am going to tell you what I feel about the electoral college. I believe we should get rid of the electoral college. When voting for a president, it should be based upon what the people want. We are voting for what we want, not what some elector wants. Sure, deciding on the president through popular vote isn’t the best idea, but, we can add a few adjustments and it would be fine! We are voting for us, our country, what we want for us. Popular vote is less confusing to learn about. When people hear about the electoral college, they normally have no clue what you are talking about because it is a confusing topic. Popular vote is way easier to learn about so I think more people would know what it was.I have a feeling that if we switched to popular vote, the amount of people that register to vote and the amount of people that vote would go up. People will feel like their vote actually matters. It also gets rid of winner takes all. There would be no electoral votes, so winner takes all would be gone. Now a days, enough people have televisions to have more election infomercials to educate citizens about the candidates. Nowadays, we should be able to trust that people are informed enough on the elections. Is the reasons that the electoral college was created still apply today?
The Electoral College is a system where the President is directly elected. This process has been used in many past elections as well as the current 2016 election. This process also helps narrow down the large numbers that were made by the popular votes, into a smaller number that is easier to work with for electing the President. Some states use a system called “winner-takes-all”, which is another system that is connected with the Electoral College. This allows a candidate with the most electoral votes, to get the rest of the votes that the state provides.
The Electoral College is the name given to a group of electors who are nominated by political activists and party members within the states. The electoral college really isn't necessary and should be abolished. There are numerous reasons why this is so. With the Electoral College in affect third parties don't have a chance to become the president, which isn't fair. Electors are expected to be honest but in the past our country has caught some untruthful ones. The electoral College was created so long ago that it is now outdated, so we shouldn't even have electors. People of the U.S. may think that they are participating in a direct election for the president, but with the Electoral College system technically, this isn't the case.
If you think on the Election Day, you just voted for US president, then you are mistaken, just like millions of Americans who hope their votes will pick the next president. When voting for President, we actually vote for state electors who hold electoral votes. Electoral votes are the votes that decide the victory of a candidate in an election. This Electoral College System has limited democracy to people in three major ways. Electoral College holds the ability to alter the results of elections over popular votes, discriminates against candidates to campaign in certain states, and creates high voter turnouts.
Every four years, the citizens of America migrate to their respective polling locations and cast their vote. On this important day, the second Tuesday of November, the next President of the United States is elected. The election race for United States presidential candidates undergo a political marathon, negotiating primaries, party conventions and an electoral college system along the way. The electoral college is one of the main aspect of a presidential election. The Electoral College is made up of electors in each state, who represent the states popular vote. Each presidential party or candidate designates a group of electors in each state, equal to the States electoral votes, who are considered to be loyal to that candidate, to each State’s
The Electoral College system should be scrapped and be replaced with popular vote because it is unfair. By abolishing the Electoral College and replacing it with popular vote, it would represent citizens equally, it would allow citizens to elect their president just as they elect their governors and senators, and it would motivate and encourage citizens to participate in voting.
The United States of America is often touted as the guiding beacon of democracy for the entirety of the modern world. In spite of this tremendous responsibility the political system of the United States retains some aspects which upon examination appear to be significantly undemocratic. Perhaps the most perplexing and oft misunderstood of these establishments is the process of electing the president and the institution known as the Electoral College. The puzzle of the Electoral College presents the American people with a unique conundrum as the mark of any true democracy is the citizens’ ability to elect their own ruling officials. Unfortunately, the Electoral College system dilutes this essential capacity by introducing an election by
Voting is at the center of every democratic system. In america, it is the system in which a president is elected into office, and people express their opinion. Many people walk into the voting booth with the thought that every vote counts, and that their vote might be the one that matters above all else. But in reality, America’s voting system is old and flawed in many ways. Electoral College is a commonly used term on the topic of elections but few people actually know how it works.
In America, voting for the President is a privilege and a lie. Many Americans think when they go to the polls in November, they are voting for the President of the United States; but really, they are voting for a group of electors who have pledged to support a nominee for the President. The Founding Fathers were concerned that presidents would always come from a populous state and wondered whether the public would have the knowledge of various candidates necessary to make a wise selection. They did not have access to technology like the internet or smart phones as we do. In most states, as the result of the election, the state awards all its electors to the winning candidate (Belenky 1308). A Presidential a candidate must win 270 Electoral
The Constitutional Convention of 1787 gave birth to the Electoral College system. The Electoral College system can be briefly described as a system where voters are able to vote for candidates(electors) on election day. Electors then cast their vote for a candidate in their respective party. Our Founding Fathers described the electoral college system in Article
The Electoral College Should Be Abolished Many years after the United States was founded, the Constitutional Convention met to decide how the new nation would govern itself; they later came to settle on the Electoral College. The Electoral College is a system in which the president and vice president are chosen indirectly. In general, the delegates did not believe that a direct popular vote was acceptable, however that it should be decided by the US senators and representatives instead. The way in which it works: a candidate must receive a majority of the electoral votes to be officially declared president. If no candidate obtains a majority, the US Representatives selects the president from the top three contenders; this means each state receives
To enforce voting to be mandatory , this will prompt more Americans to pay attention to the choices for their representatives. Mandating would stimulate the demand side, motivating voters to understand and acknowledge who they are voting for. Therefore , voting is to be a responsibility than a option.
Originating in 1787, the Electoral College was created as the official body within American politics that elects the president and vice president. The decision of who will win is based off the vote totals in each state, and “the founding fathers established it in the constitution as a compromise between election of the president by a vote in Congress and election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens.” (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, “What is the Electoral College?”). During this time, the job of the Electoral College was to make peace between differing states and federal interest groups, provide popular participation in elections, give a vote to less populated states, and keep the president’s powers separate from Congress.
In the United States we are all guaranteed one vote per person. Everyone has an equal voice in electing the people that serve in the government. Every four years during the month of November citizens of America go to the polls to vote for a president and vice-president of the United States. Am I right? Not really. They actually vote for electors that then vote for our president. It makes me wonder, "Are we a democracy?" Having the Electoral College defeats its purpose. I oppose the electoral college for these three reasons, in election 2000 the president that lost the popular vote actually won, everyone's vote doesn't really count, plus the electoral college has disrupted elections fifteen times!
Americans do not vote for their presidential or vice-presidential candidate. Instead, they indicate their preference of candidate. Whichever candidate gets a plurality of the vote in a state gets all the Electors for that state. Each state's number of Electors is based on the number of Representatives and Senators it has in Congress. Once a candidate gets a plurality, the Electors vote in the "Electoral College" (a sort of caucus in their state six weeks after the election) for that candidate. So a candidate who gets just one more vote than the other in a given state wins all the votes from that state. Notably, although it is called a College, the Electoral College is a process administered by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). It is not a particular place (NARA 1).
Although, it is remotely possible in a very close election that there will not be one candidate receiving 270 electoral votes, in which case the House of Representatives chooses the President. In this scenario, each state has merely one vote each to decide the presidency out of the top three contenders for the office. The Senate chooses the vice-president out of the top two contenders.