The Pros And Cons Of The Electoral College

A woman newly turned 18, the year in which adulthood begins, stands at a voting booth to make one of the most important decisions of the year: voting for a president. She runs her hands through her damaged, dyed hair and grins; she ticks a mark, voting for a female president. The young woman is unaware of the candidate's policies, her morals; she only knows the candidate is a woman, too powered by rage to even consider voting for a male. Unfortunately, this was not uncommon in our most recent election; many people voted for a president just based on something as trivial to the matter as their sex. Many people have been demanding change in our voting system due to the most recent election, but there are still many that do not know what the Electoral College, a key factor of the process, is or does.

The College is a group of many individuals that act and vote as representatives from their respective state; they vote for presidents in accordance to what the state's people desire.

One perspective on this topic is from Elizabeth Deatrick, who wrote "What is the Electoral College;" a separate duo of authors, Jeffrey Bowman and Tracey M. DiLascio add onto the subject with their article, "Counterpoint: Why We Need the Electoral College." The Electoral College should not be reformed nor abolished because it is a system that works as it was first intended by the Founding Fathers, it would cause trouble in the future if we did put through a bill to change it, and despite the arguments from opposing sides that gripe about how unfair it is to small states, it is impossible to deny that without this system, the opinions from small states would be valued at nothing; if anything, the College protects and aids these states. Ultimately, it comes down to this: we should not fix what is not

broken.

A nod of their heads and a signing of a document solidifies the creation of the Electoral College; a system that our Founding Fathers set into motion centuries ago, it even stands to this day. To this day, there are still many people, adults and children alike, that do not know what the Electoral College stands for; they wonder why it must exist, why just voting straight for the president would not be so much more effective. However, these people, these Americans, are uneducated and unknowledgeable in such a topic despite their cries for change and abolition. This brings in the wonderings and questioning; what was the Electoral College meant to do, and does it even accomplish its goals? The Electoral College, according to "What is the Electoral College" by Elizabeth Deatrick, was created as a balancing system that would deter political parties, distrust, as well as promoting voting and election based on ability to govern rather than political agenda. However, it is no secret that political parties had formed during that time period. Infact, contrary to popular belief, political parties had started due to two of the Founding Fathers, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. An important part of this event is to remember that correlation is not causation; the forming of political parties was connected to the Electoral College, but the College did not cause political parties. Distrust and suspicion were also troubles that the Fathers worried about; they were not as worried about cases of mudslinging and self-promotion, but of course, there was no possible way for them to predict technology as advanced as what we have now. Campaigning has become vicious and tricky; lies rest left and right, making it near impossible to control. Was this a fault of the Electoral College? Of course not. The fault lies within society itself; there is absolutely no way a system centuries of years old can control such violent manner. Negatives aside, did the Electoral College manage to achieve what they wished to promote, rather than deter? In a way, yes, candidates have typically been voted for based on how they plan to govern, using their political agenda as a tie-in. Despite the electors being able to vote for whoever they wish rather than what the state they represent desires, "Counterpoint: Why We Need the Electoral College" by Jeffrey Bowman and Tracey M. DiLascio mentions that these electors tended to stay loyal, only a few cases have occurred where they had voted otherwise; they were then rightfully deemed "faithless electors" and fortunately, their dishonorable behavior was not enough to turn the tides of the respective election they took part it. Ultimately, the Electoral College has achieved what it was meant to, and still functions; but what would happen if we did reform or abolish the system? How long would it take?

Years into our future, decades, scores, centuries, perhaps even millenniums, begin to fully question our election's lifeblood –the Electoral College. They demand change, they demand destruction, they no longer desire the system that stood against time for centuries. The next question begins to ring for these people; when will they see the change they so desperately fight for? Will it take a mere matter of days? Weeks, perhaps? The truth is, reforming such a key part of our system would take much more than a day's worth of discussion and writing; the system itself is ingrained into our history, created specifically to prevent political parties and distrust. Removing the Electoral College would leave us without other key parts and points; it would make smaller states almost worthless, having so few people compared to colossus California and Texas-esque states. Now states that are powerless and taken with a grain of salt, these states are defenseless against the opposing views of the all-mighty United Titans, seething strength and sway. How does this relate to today; if this is a thing that’s only part of a hypothetical future, why does it matter? Bringing the matter into a more present-day scenario, if it were decided that the United States was to rid itself of the Electoral College this very moment, it would still most definitely take years to fully abolish it. Skipping to that time frame, now the College is gone, roughly around the time of the next election. What now? As votes flood in with pride that their vote matters, it's a deep, dark reality that we the people only managed to kill ourselves; we cut the value of the small states down into microscopic pieces, leaving the towering states of California, New York, and other to dominate the polls, immediately swinging us into a leftist spiral, win after win. Despite these vital key reasons as to why we must preserve the Electoral College, some still make a stand and demand change.