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Persuasive Essay On The Electoral College

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This past election has raised several questions and issues, one of them being on the effectiveness of the Electoral College. Though Clinton won the popular vote with a margin of 2,868,692 votes, Trump won the presidency because his electoral votes were greater. Many were confused as to how this could happen, but looking at a map of the U.S. county-wise, it is somewhat more believable. Most of Clinton’s votes were concentrated in major cities,unlike Trump’s which were more widespread. This allowed him to cast a wider net to collect more electoral votes. Despite this being the reasoning behind it, many question if this is the right path. In truth, the Electoral college system is very faulty in the sense that it misrepresents a large portion of American Citizens. Therefore, it requires several changes, i.e. converting to a proportional system rather than winner-take-all, to be made so it could better reflect the will of the people, without dismissing the entire establishment as a whole. …show more content…

The Electoral College derived as a compromise during the Constitutional Convention; some wanted the president to directly chosen while other rathered Congress or State Legislatures to choose him. It was finally decided to create an institution in which reflected both of these ideal, named the Electoral College. It would be an independent body that connected states and the national government through a pre-delegated electors that would vote based off how the people in their state’s voted. Over the years, several modifications were made, but no serious accusations were made until 1824 when Andrew Jackson won the popular vote yet lost the presidency. This shocked the nation and presented the question of whether the Electoral College best reflected what the people

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