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
Despite the Electoral College system being founded by the founding fathers in America and being there as long as the Constitution exists, many people still do not have sufficient knowledge on how it works. The Electoral College does not provide honest presidential elections rather it has the potential to undo the will of people at any point from the selection of electors to the vote tallying in Congress (Shaw, 3). Electoral College in the United States has played a major role in depressing the voter's turnout. Every State is given an equal number of electoral votes despite the population and in turn, the system has put in place no measure to encourage the voters to take part in the elections. Besides, the system distorts
In the past 200 years, many aspects of our society and those of the world have changed, ranging from social morals and ethics to technology. Through the great leaps and bounds technology has made, transferring information has gone from something that could have taken weeks to virtually an effortless and instantaneous norm of everyday life. This ease of information exchange has caused many things to change, be it the growing popularity of the Internet and e-mail or the ridiculous amount of television channels ever ready to inform the average citizen of the happenings around the community, state, country, and world. With so many changes taking place, one would think that all things of importance would
In this country, we hold elections every four years to select the president. The founding fathers of our country established the electoral college to give the original thirteen states a fair voice in the election process. This country electoral called the electoral college into question on more the one occasion. In the most recent election, President-elect Donald Trump won the electoral vote over Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote. This election has sent the country into an uproar and citizens of the United States are now challenging the legitimacy of the electoral college process. This paper will examine whether this process is reliable and valid when choosing the leadership of this country.
The Electoral College dates back to the very founding of America and American politics. The way to elect the President was a hotly contested issue at the Constitutional Convention. Many options were considered, including selection by Congress, selection by state governors, selection by state legislatures, and direct popular vote (Electoral College 6). The final decision of the Founding Fathers was written in Article II, Sections II and III of the US Constitution:
The outcome of the 2016 election left many Americans feeling confused, angry, cheated, and terrified of the future. Somehow, the sexist, racist, homophobic candidate Donald Trump had become the nation’s president, though Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton received the majority of popular vote. This raised many questions over the constitutionality of the Electoral College system, and whether it was unfair to the people of the United States. In the electoral system, created by the Founding Fathers due to their lack of trust in the people, the constituents of each state vote for their preferred candidate, and all of the state’s electoral votes go to the candidate with a majority. Clearly, the Electoral
Does a United States citizen think that electoral college is democracy's safety net? The people of the U.S. have their own opinions about Electoral College. Some disagree on the topics that Electoral College discusses, and some agree. Most U.S. citizens should support the electoral college because it prevents majority rule, the US needs the electoral college more than ever before, and the intentions of the founding fathers held the abhorrence in the US.
The Electoral College in the United States is not a place but a process. It was a process our founding fathers established in the Constitution. It is a complicated voting system that most citizens today do not understand. The Electoral College has been in place for well over two hundred years and is unfortunately showing its age. Most people believe that when they vote in a general election for the President, they truly believe they are voting for the president. This has shown to be the case many times in the past elections, but it has happened that the candidate who won the popular vote was not elected President by the Electoral College. The Process spelled out in the Constitution as written by our founding fathers known as the Electoral College needs to be replaced with a better method that truly represents the will and vote of the American people.
For example California due to its large population has 55 electoral votes, and candidates want the state to vote for them, so they can win 270 votes more easily. For example in the 2016 elections Donald Trump gained 306 electoral votes and Hillary Clinton gained 232 votes. But by the popular vote, or basically counting the people's votes, Hillary Clinton won by having to 2.6 million more votes than Donald Trump. If the people of America voted more for Clinton then Trump, but Donald Trump became president, this proves that inefficiency of the Electoral College. The president was not appointed by the people. President Donald Trump stated that he believes more into the popular votes : “I would rather see it where you went with simple votes. You know you get a hundred million votes, and somebody else gets 90 million volts and you
On August 18th, 1920, Congress passed the Nineteenth Amendment, giving women the right to vote. After countless protests and speeches over many years by dedicated women suffragists, women finally gained the right to take part in the US government after an absence of nearly 150 years. The fact that women could not vote at the conception of the US government shows that many aspects of it are outdated, one of these being the electoral college. The electoral college is the system of voting used in the US in which each state receives a certain number of electors, based on population, with a total of 538, who ultimately decide which presidential candidate is victorious. Although it may protect the interests of small states, the electoral college has troubling origins, allows for the misrepresentation of voters, and treats voters unequally.
Many refer to the United States of America as a democracy: a republic that is of the people, by the people, and for the people; where ideals such as truth, justice, and equality reign. However, if one looks closer with a more cynical lens, they might find that this is nothing more than a half-truth. For America is not truly a democracy, as many say it is, but rather a strange mix of a constitutional republic with a dash of democratic ideals. Nowhere is it more evident that America doesn’t truly rely on democratic ideas than in the system of voting used to elect the “Leader of the Free World”: the Electoral College.
Write an essay that explains how the Electoral College works. How does the Electoral College shape the strategy of candidates? Why is it harder to win presidential elections post 1968?
Do you believe the electoral college is the ideal method to vote for the next president of the united states? I do not agree with this method of choosing the president and I think the popular vote should be the method of voting instead. In the Electoral College you vote for someone to vote the president for you which defeats the purpose of voting. Especially since that person legally doesn't have to vote for who you want. Also the electoral college makes voting more complicated which differs from the popular vote method which is easier by just counting votes and the winner would be who has the most votes. My last reason for abolishing the Electoral College and using the popular vote method is it would help other parties instead of just the Republican and Democratic parties. As third party candidates never won due to the electoral college being more helpful to the other parties.The electoral college is a complicated and not fair way of voting for the president. The process defeats the purpose of voting and most of the time helps only two parties which give the other parties a very low chance of winning.
It is our favorite time of year again--election time. This election season we have an amazing array of candidates, especially on the GOP side. The candidates are such great quality that some of them have never even held a political office. For example, we have a brain surgeon and a media personality running. How does being great at brain surgery and media make you fit for a presidential candidate? You tell me I am still trying to figure that one out too. However, the candidates with the least political experience are actually doing the best in the polls. One candidate that seems to be untouchable right now is GOP candidate Donald Trump. The most unorthodox, radical candidate you will probably ever meet--besides Hitler of course.
Imagine for a moment that a young man has been working hard all day on his own farm. He is the typical hard-working, middle-class American, not unlike Americans today. Normally this young man puts in a good twelve hours worth of work, but on this particularly special day, he relieves himself early. It is Election Day. He considers himself patriotic and takes this day very seriously. He casts his vote and comes home just in time to tuck his son into bed. He sleeps soundly through the night, knowing that he has helped to shape the country he loves so dearly. The next day, he learns that the man he voted for is not his new Commander in Chief. This man is not typically a sore loser, but in this
The Electoral College what can I say to be honest, I know nothing about the Electoral College, but I will do my best to explain it to people who might know and to help them know so when they're seventeen they know like I should. So the Google definition of the Electoral College is a body of people representing the states of the US, who cast votes in the election of the President and Vice President. I would have not given that explanation, it would have told you it a College. So helping you and myself, I will first explain how it works, then how Electors are selected, and the qualifications to be one and their restriction on who the Electors can vote for. Then people opinions about it. Then I will explain the pro and cons towards The Electoral College, and some choice they can do instead of the Electoral College. Electoral College is a process that compromises between the election and help with voting, not an actual College like I thought. It was established in our Constitution by our founding father. An easy way to explain what it is about what I understand is that when the people vote for the President they don't vote for the President they vote a group that voted for the same Candidate. The Electoral College comprises 538 electors and 270 electors need to choose the President. Each Candidate running for President in your state, has his or her own group of electors, they are chosen by the political part of the Candidate and the state law varies on how the electors are