Throughout the history of the United States, there have been five US presidential elections where the winner failed to win the popular vote of the US citizens. Two of these, so-called “misfire” elections, occurred within the past 17 years and many citizens of the United States started to question the democratic values of the Electoral College and whether the system is outdated. As the frequency of recent misfires increased, so did a new trend of support for legislation that calls for the replacement of the Electoral College with a national popular vote and a winner that is decided purely by the popular vote. This law, commonly referred to as the National Popular Vote, is continuously debated by Democrats and Republicans alike. An interesting …show more content…
It is evident that the participants of the debate undermine each other on specific aspects. Supporters of the National Popular Vote mostly focus on the non-majoritarian aspect of the Electoral College and the possibility of misfires occurring. On the other hand, Electoral College supporters primarily focus on the uncertainty of abolishing the Electoral College, the increased cost of Presidential campaigns in safe states and the possibility of incentivizing political zealots into running for President by weakening the two-party …show more content…
Supporters of the Electoral College claimed that the National Popular Vote would aggravate sectionalism and damage federalism. Supporters argue that the Electoral College preserves federalism in two ways: by allowing them to appoint their electors and also in the event of no majority electoral votes, that the House of Representatives can choose the candidate for President with each delegate casting their vote. However, supporters of the National Popular Vote argue that since there are battleground states created by the two-party system, that instead of focusing on ideals of a state, the Electoral College candidates would appeal more to the minor factions of these particular battleground states, possibly against the nation's
...lieve the Electoral College should be made up of men able to analyze the specific qualities of the president of that time. Also, in Anti-Federalist paper No. 68, it discusses that the president should be elected by a certain number of electors, much like the Electoral College.
...onstitution and the issues with the electoral college. The fact that America remains on a first-past-the-post system instead of moving to a popular vote system when several Presidents were elected despite being the less popular candidate is ludicrous. Also while some of the initial flaws in the Constitution are understandable due to the need to rally support, those flaws are not representative of a democratic nation.
When America was first established, they had the highest voting turnouts ever in American history. Ever since, America’s voting turn-out has dropped (Fortin). The reason for the high turn outs were because American colonists wanted change from the British’s electoral system. As history writes, American colonist rebel and over time becomes one of the greatest countries ever. Today, Americans are one of the worst countries in vote to registration as they rank 120 in the world (Pintor). Over the summer, I got to learn more about Ohio’s electoral system and voting turn outs in a first hand experience. A decreasing number of voting to registration is not only a national problem, but a local issue as well and there are creative ideas in fixing these
John Adams once said "You will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it." For many generations, our ancestors have fought for the right to vote. It started with the Civil Rights Act in 1964 which made it mandatory that white schools integrate black children into their institutions. The outcome of the 1964 election was a landslide, favoring the democrats, which broached the issue of civil rights legislation. In 1964 “only 7% of eligible black citizens in Mississippi were registered; in Alabama the figure was 20% (Kernell, et. al 2014, 162). The low voter turnout rate was because people of color were required to take a literacy test. This all changed when President Johnson
The Voting Rights Act marked a significant shift in American democracy, ensuring the right to vote for all regardless of race, religion, or sex. The key provisions of the Voting Rights Act, Section IV and Section V, ensured the overview of all state mandated voting laws, safeguarding constitutional values despite racial opposition. The breaking down of this provision under Supreme Court Ruling Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder, Attorney General has the potential to undo decades of progress to tackle racial barriers, isolating and withholding the right to vote for the weak, effectively dissolving democracy for the ones who need it the most.
Since then, the U.S. has grown from a mere 4 million to a looming number of around 300 million people. It is because of this population increase that the Electoral College has become obsolete and is beginning to fail at its duties. Alexander Hamilton was a Federalist and a supporter of the Electoral College who was quoted as saying “It was also desirable to afford as little opportunity as possible to tumult and disorder/ promise an effectual security against this mischief” (Document #1). The College would have prevented tumult and disorder for many years, but nowadays, it isn’t capable of keeping 300 million people calm.
Due to the discrepancy between the winner of the popular vote and the winner of the electoral college in the most recent election, there has been a lot of talk about eliminating the electoral college and moving to a direct popular vote. While many people argue for this shift, usually with little knowledge of what a popular vote election would look like, there are also many citizens who are opposed to the idea. In our polarized political climate, this fact is not surprising. Those who support the electoral college defend it by claiming that it is not only constitutional, but it also represents the whole county, and makes for a more certain, legitimate election process.
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 fact, the Constitution contains provisions for direct and indirect election of the different parts of the legislature and the executive, based on overlapping but distinct electorates (Muller 1251). In addition, many people believe that, the Electoral College process of electing the president necessitates replacement with a direct popular vote to honor our democratic form of government in the United States. Moreover, in a democratic form of government, the authority rests with the people rather than in one or a few as in a totalitarian or authoritarian form of government. People believe a direct election supports the 14th Amendment principle of “one person, one vote” (Wagner 577). Therefore, the winner-take-all system inaccurately represents the will of the American citizens since not all candidates garner any electoral votes. On the other hand, a popular vote for the president could lead to many runoffs if neither candidate reaches a majority, creating a bigger opportunity for voter fraud and manipulation of the vote, which would not truly represent the will of the people, states, or country. The Electoral College sometimes fails to represent the national popular vote because states use the winner-take-all approach and not some proportional method for the representation of its voters. However, the Founding Fathers were not too keen on
The United States is a privileged country with freedoms and opportunities many countries strive to achieve. People come into the United States in hopes to obtain these rights and make a better life for themselves; they strive to achieve “The American Dream.” Citizens are given the chance to vote, speak their mind, and live according to their desires without prejudice. However, the same government that promises hope has flaws that frustrate the American people; the Electoral College is one topic of debate. Many feel this system is a safe way to regulate who leads the country, while others feel that issues should be left to popular vote.
As the United States of America gets older, so does the presidential election voting system. The argument to change this method of voting has been becoming more and more popular as the years go on. It has been said that the Framers of the Constitution came up with this method because of the bad transportation, communication, and they feared the public’s intelligence was not suitable for choosing the President of the United States. Others say that the Framers made this method because they feared that the public did not receive sufficient information about candidates outside of their state to make such a decision based on direct popular vote. My research on this controversial issue of politics will look into the factors into why the Electoral College exists and if it is possibly outdated for today’s society. It will look into the pros and cons of this voting system, and it will explore the alternative methods of voting such as the Direct Popular vote. Many scholarly authors have gathered research to prove that this voting system is outdated and it does not accurately represent the national popular will. Many U.S. citizens value their vote because they only get one to cast towards the candidate of their choice in the presidential election. Based on the Electoral College system their vote may possibly not be represented. Because of today’s society in the U.S. the Electoral College should be abolished because it is not necessary to use a middle-man to choose our president for us. It is a vote by the people, all of us having one voice, one vote.
Electoral College Reform Since the fiasco that was the Presidential Election in the year 2000, many Americans have been calling for reform of the Electoral College. Most of these people were Gore supporters disillusioned by the fact that Bush won the office of the President while, in fact, he lost the popular vote. The American people did not elect George W. Bush; the Electoral College did. Last year’s event was the first of its kind in over a century. There have been many close elections, but none have resulted in the popular candidate losing to his opponent.
Many people question whether the Electoral College should or should not be abolished. People believe that it has a great impact for the country and the elections that are held every four years, although, none of that is true. Many think of the Electoral College as a place, and not a committee, making it harder for the candidates to understand the true meaning and what the whole idea is of the Electoral College. The Electoral College was introduced by the Founding Fathers of the United States, and later added to the constitution. The Electoral College consist of a group of electors, put together in order to choose from the remaining candidates, to be the country's future president, which is a very big deal.
The Electoral College was established at the roots of the American electoral process. This system is deemed archaic and many argue that its function is no longer beneficial in today’s politics. In the modern era, we have seen a shift in approval ratings of the system. The system is generally disliked and many agree that because the government is “progressive” and the system is essentially “regressive”, the United States lacks room for improvement and is ultimately stifled by the system. Although there are many benefits to the system, it is important to note that issues arise with time.
While convenience is of immense importance and influences voter turnout, the New York State offers no forms of convenience voting for eligible voters. Due to the state’s populous background, it would be most beneficial to adopt vote-by-mail with permanent status. This method would unconventionally mobilize the citizens of the state. When citizens receive ballots at their homes, not only are they more likely to vote, they are also more likely to make educated decisions in an assumingly less stressful environment than a polling place. The flexibility, desired by the working class, is perhaps the most essential factor in this form of convenience voting.