Last week, we released our initial House ratings for 2024. Illing: What would you say is the biggest myth or misconception about the Electoral College? Yes! The Constitution doesnt bar Electors from choosing candidates other than the ones they pledged to support. Without the College, a candidate could win the Presidency by focusing on just a few large states, or by making populist promises harmful to Americas federalism. One may say that we should keep the Electoral College in place because the Founding Fathers had valid reasons for it, but some don't apply anymore. Richard Nixon in 1968 won 43% of the popular vote but 56% of the Electoral College, and Bill Clinton in 1992 won 43% of the popular vote but 69% of the Electoral College. At 100 signatures, this petition is more likely to be featured in recommendations! The Electoral College voting system goes against republicanism as it contradicts the belief that citizens have the ability to directly choose their leaders. I respect Will as an astute observer of politics. Trump won the presidential election despite losing the popular election by more than two million votes. Available from: [Accessed 01-03-23]. Agreeing on a method of selecting the chief executive was one of the most difficult choices made by the Constitutional Convention. Let's abolish the Electoral College Created to protect the slave states, it is championed now by conservatives who fear the power of America's true majority. EssaySauce.com is a free resource for students, providing thousands of example essays to help them complete their college and university coursework. 6. He shows how the Constitution's text, history, and structure are a crucial repository of collective wisdom, Your IP: There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. That is a laborious process and a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College would require significant consensusat least two-thirds affirmation from both the House and Senate,. What Would Gandhi Think of Our Constitution? Liberty Mason started this petition to United States Supreme Court and 2 others Abolish the Electoral College I want to keep this short and simple as possible. Candidates would need to travel everywhere instead of only to a handful of swing states that currently enjoy this attention. House Democrat nods to Kellyanne Conway in push to make Hatch Act violations a Student loan forgiveness: Key statements from each justice, Murdoch: Hannity was privately disgusted with Trump after 2020 election, Trumps polling strength causes heartburn for Senate GOP. Will you do the same? ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Election by national popular vote would dispense with the need for continental diversification. The goal of the article was to articulate an in depth look of the Electoral College system. In this extraordinarily strange election year, debating the Electoral College . Past proposals for change by constitutional amendment have included various reform options and direct popular election, which would eliminate the Electoral College system, but no substantive action on this issue, has been taken in Congress for more than 20 years. var r = Math.floor(Math.random() * (9999 - 0 + 1) + 0); My stance to abolish the Electoral College has drawn some ire. If we make it through this election, we must make changes to the system that led here. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. A national popular vote would have accentuated rather than moderated the zealous enthusiasms roiling the Democratic Party.. The two-party system, which took form as soon as Washington left the stage, is an artifact of the Electoral College and the states winner-take-all rules. It cant solve our problems on its own, but has given us a measure of stability to try for ourselves. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". Southern states were able to extend the three-fifths compromise, counting slaves in the presidents selection without openly parading the fact. [4] There are proposals to enlarge the Electoral College to more closely reflect each states population. According to Civis Analytics poll, 62 percent of the people that voted in the 2016 election would like to abolish the Electoral College. President Donald Trump won the election in 2016 through the. They are expected, but not constitutionally bound, to vote for the candidates they represent. The Founding Fathers knew that there needed to be a system like an electoral college in place to ensure the USA flourishes. I am not alone in holding. How Do Bacteria Become Resistant Answer Key; Peds Exam 1 - Professor Lewis, Pediatric Exam 1 Notes; MKT 2080 - Chapter 2 Essay; Chapter 8 Practice; A party system was instituted really to fulfill that old function of the Electoral College's, which is to narrow people down and get responsible people to be candidates for the presidency. . Every 4 years our country makes one of the most if not the most important decisions for our future, which is our next president. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. Compare and contrast Sample's and McConnell's views about the Electoral College. It's electors who decide elections, and there is a . Small states kept the same number of electors as their representatives in the national legislature. TheDigitalArtist / Pixabay. 2) Swing States vs. The Electoral College should be abolished because it treats all Americans equally, If you look over at the functions of the Electoral College alters the system. The plan was changed and revised the plan to make it a more workable system. (download the rest of the essay above). They were also working to balance the needs of small and large states, as well as slave and free states. jo.src = 'https://www.financialjuice.com/widgets/voice-player.js?mode=inline&display=1&container=FJ-voice-news-player&info=valuewalk&r=' + r; It's time to ditch the antiquated way we choose presidents. The Electoral College has elected the president and vice president of the United States since the nation's, beginnings. The district plan is the one that Maine and Nebraska use now. A national popular vote would turn America into a multiparty democracy. In 2000, and again in 2020, the outcomes of elections resulted in Constitutional crises. Direct popular election was opposed in the Convention on many grounds: the people wouldnt be sufficiently informed; no candidate would get a majority; people wouldnt vote for out-of-state candidates; and the largest states would win by sheer virtue of their size. Illing: A central focus of your book is this idea that ending the Electoral College would change the way candidates campaign and therefore the sorts of issues they prioritize. For starters, direct elections by voters can create incentives for broad public participation. State electoral vote results are reported to Congress and other designated authorities; they are then counted and declared at a joint session of Congress held on January 6 of the year after the election; Congress may, however, change this date by joint resolution. Younger voters also tended to support abolishing the Electoral College. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. Its primary function is to malapportion political power, and it does so indeed, has always done so with strikingly awful consequences. Candidates are compelled to focus on issues important in each state and choose where they want to make a difference. The federal government would have to regulate voter and candidate qualifications, voting requirements and election procedures. By one analysis of the 2012 presidential election, four out of five voters had virtually zero influence on the outcome. Each registered voter gets just one vote. Disputed results from the 2020 presidential . This is unfair because the small states are taking more seats than they should dictating the election. - Albert Einstein. (04.06 MC) The President of the United States cannot stand above the battle engaging in vague little sermons on brotherhood. All our essays are uploaded by volunteers. Whereas some are convinced that the popular vote should be used to determine the president, others maintain that the Electoral College process has been successfully used in all of the past presidential elections and should remain the deciding factor. What It Would (Really) Take to Abolish the Electoral College Ryan Bort March 19, 2019, 5:04 PM In 2016, Americans cast their ballots for Hillary Clinton by a margin of close to three million. Is Iran ready to build a nuclear bomb or not? These issues still affect out modern day political sphere. Although this is very unlikely to happen, the fact that a candidate could win the elections with only 21.8 percent of the popular vote clearly shows that the majority of the people are not always represented in the Electoral College. LET'S ABOLISH THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE Are the people smart enough to choose their own leader? Thomas H. Neales account of the history of the Electoral College provides evidence that the original idea of the plan was changed and revised at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. The original method of electing the President and Vice-President, however, proved unworkable, etc. (Neale 2 CRS) Furthermore, Neale acknowledges that the founders and delegates realized that the Electoral College plan was not the perfect system to use in the election process. Each state gets their total number of votes decided based on the population of the state plus two guaranteed senators. Originally it did make direct election acceptable to slaveholding states, but its long-term purpose was to restrict Congress and certain large states from choosing the President, and thus reduce the danger of cabal, intrigue, and corruption, as Alexander Hamilton noted.[11]. They did not trust that voters would have enough information to make a good choice. This not only brings federal attention to each state, but provides a fillip to Americas diversity. The complex elements comprising the Electoral College system are responsible for one of the most important processes of the American political and constitutional system: election of the President and Vice President. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. The electors cast separate ballots for President and Vice President, after which the Electoral College ceases to exist until the next presidential election. But we need bipartisan support in Congress, a constitutional amendment, and a majority of the states to agree. And they criticize the College for being a living symbol of Americas original sin, since it gave slaveholding states an electoral edge at the nations founding. Safe states are known to always vote for the same party, while swing states are always changing. Moreover, Thomas Neale article depicts the procedure of awarding each states electoral votes. Let's Abolish the Electoral College . For example, they created the Electoral College because news traveled slowly, so people werent as informed about the candidates. The use of the Electoral College system to determine the results of the 2016 Presidential Election has divided our nation. It does not store any personal data. There would be numerous benefits to abolishing the Electoral College. Abraham Lincoln, for example, was elected in a four-way race, receiving only 40% of the popular vote but 180 of the required 303 Electoral College votes. Despite the new law, some still think the Electoral College is outdated and should be abolished in favor of a national popular vote system. 0 . Thanks to Donald Trump, what was once the relic of our system is now an active threat to the future of our democracy. Presidential System Could be More Suitable for India, Why Ambedkar Didnt Like Indias Constitution. First, the Electoral College is felt to be an outdated system which is no longer necessary for our elections (The Electoral College). (Neale 2 CRS) Basically, Neale is saying the Electoral College provides additional leverage to states that have a smaller population. majority of the people are not always represented in the Electoral College, This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. Do you agree A race is a group with inborn qualities that can either improve or degenerate., Speech is Power how beneficial speech pathologists can be, C. maculatus prefers smaller sized beans for oviposition. Ask an Expert. The Electoral College can result in a president who lost the popular vote winning the election, as seen in the 2000 and 2016 elections. 32 minutes and 09 seconds. As many people think, every four years Americans vote to elect their president. Further, he has enacted in office not the modest policies of a man without a true national mandate but has fueled our partisan warfare. Considering that Trump won three normally Democratic rustbelt states Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin by razor-thin margins totaling just 80,000 votes, perhaps landslide might not have been the most accurate description of the outcome of that election. I am not alone in holding this perspective. In 1787 the Electoral College was created by the framers of the Constitution. New York: Walker Publishing. But Trumps ushering in of an ultraconservative minority-rule presidency, and the threat that he would do it again in 2024, has established Electoral College reform as a serious progressive issueespecially following the Capitol Hill insurrection., The Electoral College Saved the Election [By Christopher DeMuth; January 8, 2021][10]. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Much like the rest of the Constitution, the Electoral College was a compromise. The Electoral College is also essential to our nations political cohesiveness. 1145 Words | 5 Pages. Abolish Electoral College Essay. Wegman: I think that the most common reason is because one or both political parties have seen themselves as benefiting from it in some way. We won't send you spam. The idea was to divvy up the electoral votes of the nation's . [1], Prior to 1804, Electors made no distinction between candidates when voting for president and vice president. When candidates only visit a few states and even a few regions in those few states, you really see a warping of policy priorities. It was also a savvy compromise. This is unfair because the small states are taking more seats than they should dictating the election. The main complaints against the Electoral College are that it can elect someone who didnt win the nationwide popular vote and that it causes candidates to campaign heavily in battleground states while ignoring those they think they are certain to carry or not. He is now a vice president at the Aspen Institute and a senior fellow with the Bipartisan Policy Center. George Mason argued that giving the people this choice was like referring a trial of colors to a blind man., Speaking on behalf of the Brearly Committee, Gouverneur Morris said the chief reason for the Electoral College was the indispensible necessity of making the executive independent of the legislature. Nobody had appeared to be satisfied with an appointment by the legislature, he said. In 2020, the Electoral College began showing its stuff in March, when Joe Biden, who had done poorly in early primaries, suddenly emerged from a pack of far more vivid candidates to become the presumptive Democratic nominee. document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(jo); Those who wish to abolish the Electoral College use the 2016 Election as an example of why the system is outdated and does not fairly represent the will of the people. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Quote Reply Topic: Let's abolish the Electoral College Posted: 11 February 2008 at 7:20pm: Let's abolish the Electoral College. Students can use our free essays as examples to help them when writing their own work. We must abolish the electoral college and replace it with the national popular vote. If Democrats think they have a shot at turning out voters in rural states, they will tailor their policy agenda to appeal to such voters. But Id also say that its harder than we think to say that definitively in advance of an election. Gates Capital Management's ECF Value Funds have a fantastic track record. After tracing the Electoral College's tangled origins at the Constitutional Convention, he explores the efforts from 1800 to 2020 to abolish or significantly reform it, showing why each has failed. They think it antiquated, irrational and undemocratic and argue for scrapping it in favor of a national popular vote. This petition starter stood up and took action. However, despite displaying clear terms on our sites, sometimes users scan work that is not their own and this can result in content being uploaded that should not have been. The United States, Presidential elections provide a level of legitimacy to each new administration by following the will of the people (Clayton 2007; Koza 2016). Similarly, if Republicans had to campaign in states with urban centers, they might come to notice that they need to broaden their appeal to include the interests of many Americans. The College delivers a Chief Executive vetted not just by the people of every state but also by their state governments. But do they really? * This essay may have been previously published on Essay.uk.com at an earlier date. Get Our Activist Investing Case Study! This created situations where rivals could occupy those posts. Start by abolishing the Electoral College. Will himself left the party for this actual reason in 2016. But every voter should be counted the same, regardless of where he or she lives. It's time to ditch the antiquated. Trump proved in 2016 that you could secure the presidential election by hurling contempt at our cities and blue states, mocking urban ethnic and racial diversity, dividing the country, and losing the popular vote. The Electoral College system benefits smaller states and . Mya Sims Ms. In fact, the problems it would cause became quite evident as early as the election of 1800, and were repeated in 1824 and 1876. Gomez states that the National Popular Compact would not work because that the United States is a Democratic Republic not a pure Democracy. 1830 State of the Union Address In 1830, Jackson returned to the Electoral College and repeated his request to Congress. FOR STUDENTS : ALL THE INGREDIENTS OF A GOOD ESSAY. . Lewis is saying that the "playing field" is not equal when it comes to the vote. The Electoral College consists of electors, and an absolute majority of votes is needed for a candidate to win the election. Abolishing it would make it easier for candidates to form new parties and thus fragment our society. Nearly all states follow the winner-take-all system, awarding all electoral votes to the presidential candidate who receives the most votes in that state. 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