The Electoral College
The Electoral College was established in a compromise between a direct election system, which was supported by James Wilson, and a system whereby the President would be chosen by congress, supported by Edgridge Gerry, in Article II, Section I of the United States Constitution (Houser, 2). It is a group of ‘electors’ who are nominated or appointed by each party within each state. Each state chooses the method in which the electors are appointed. In fact, it is the electors for whom we vote on Election Day. The Electoral College is comprised of 538 members representing the number of the total number of members of the House of Representatives and Senate and three electors representing the District of Columbia. A presidential candidate must have a majority of electoral votes in order to become president. In December of a presidential election year, the electors meet in their state capitals to cast their vote for President. In theory, this vote is intended to increase the majority of the already popular candidate. Despite recent events, this is usually the case. Although, it is remotely possible in a very close election that there will not be one candidate receiving 270 electoral votes, in which
A reason that a popular election has never passed, is that a popular election would mandate that states stopped being the independent entities. It also allows average and less educated people to vote for themselves, which politicians of the 1700’s would have found preposterous (Houser, 8). The most popularly sought after reform of the Electoral College is to elect presidents solely based on the popular vote, which occurs on Election Day in November. It would be best to declare the candidate as winner based on a majority of the vote. Should no candidate have a majority of the vote, there should be a run-off between the two most popular candidates. The “winner-take-all” system that embodies the Electoral College is generally the most offensive to voters. With this idea, examining any given state as its own entity, there could be an extremely close election, but the winner in that state will take all of the electoral votes for that state (in 48 states out of 50). This is especially relevant in larger states where the difference between winning and losing is has the most impact when the vote goes into the Electoral College. This idea leads to a large loss of political efficacy. It’s no wonder that many voters have such apathy when they realize the fact that their vote does not always count, especially if they are on the losing side.
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District Columbia,
Day November,
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Approximate Word count = 1466
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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