Marisa Olson
Currie
American National Government
November 15, 2015
Should the Electoral College Be Reformed or Abolished?
The Electoral College is a part of our political system in our country. To fully understanding what it does, the way it’s changed, and also the problems it contributes to is difficult. In this essay I will be addressing the argument, should the electoral college be formed or should it be abolished? I will also be addressing both the pros and cons of either abolishing it or reforming it. The pros I address include; the recognition of small states votes, winning candidate gets majority vote, keeping us away from a recount, represents the country as a whole, certainty of income, makes having a two-party system easier, and …show more content…
Candidates don’t visit every town of the battleground states and the citizens don’t have the opportunity to meet and ask all the questions they want to them. But this might also result from according to State University, a lack of votes. As they worded it “Presidential candidates might ignore states with small populations if not for the electoral college. Under the current system, candidates campaign in whichever states the election results are expected to be closest. Under a national popular vote, critics say, candidates would focus their attention on capturing areas with the most people and the most votes” (stateuniversity.com). Although, they do count smaller populated towns people votes greatly, they should do campaigning in these states to let these people’s voices be heard better. With smaller states the reason their percentage is so high is because the minimal number votes for a state to have is three. This leads to conflicts and the concern of not being fair because one man does not equal to one vote. (newsmax.com) Without the Electoral College around these days, these states wouldn’t even be noticed or counted …show more content…
An example would be receiving a vote in Ohio compared to receiving a vote in New York, obviously the vote from Ohio wouldn’t be the same as a vote from New York. Although, according to State University, “the Electoral College over represents less-populous states giving voters in those states an unfair advantage. Under the present system, the two electoral votes that all states receive for their senators give less-populous states more electoral votes per person than larger states. The Electoral College undermines a key democratic value—the notion that every citizen’s vote is equally important” (stateuniversity.com). This shows how the electoral college isn’t totally fair but thinks about smaller towns as their voice matters to. Another example of this as seen on Slate website, “Wyoming, the least populous state, contains only about one-sixth of 1 percent of the U.S. population, but its three electors (of whom two are awarded only because Wyoming has two senators like every other state) give it slightly more than one-half of 1 percent of total electoral votes” (thegreenpapers.com). This shows how even this small state of Wyoming got a bigger vote with less people.
Another pro about the Electoral College would be it keeping us away from the possibility of a recount of the whole nation. An example of this would was in 2000, we had a fiasco here in Florida and after that happened there had to be a recount
Currie
American National Government
November 15, 2015
Should the Electoral College Be Reformed or Abolished?
The Electoral College is a part of our political system in our country. To fully understanding what it does, the way it’s changed, and also the problems it contributes to is difficult. In this essay I will be addressing the argument, should the electoral college be formed or should it be abolished? I will also be addressing both the pros and cons of either abolishing it or reforming it. The pros I address include; the recognition of small states votes, winning candidate gets majority vote, keeping us away from a recount, represents the country as a whole, certainty of income, makes having a two-party system easier, and …show more content…
Candidates don’t visit every town of the battleground states and the citizens don’t have the opportunity to meet and ask all the questions they want to them. But this might also result from according to State University, a lack of votes. As they worded it “Presidential candidates might ignore states with small populations if not for the electoral college. Under the current system, candidates campaign in whichever states the election results are expected to be closest. Under a national popular vote, critics say, candidates would focus their attention on capturing areas with the most people and the most votes” (stateuniversity.com). Although, they do count smaller populated towns people votes greatly, they should do campaigning in these states to let these people’s voices be heard better. With smaller states the reason their percentage is so high is because the minimal number votes for a state to have is three. This leads to conflicts and the concern of not being fair because one man does not equal to one vote. (newsmax.com) Without the Electoral College around these days, these states wouldn’t even be noticed or counted …show more content…
An example would be receiving a vote in Ohio compared to receiving a vote in New York, obviously the vote from Ohio wouldn’t be the same as a vote from New York. Although, according to State University, “the Electoral College over represents less-populous states giving voters in those states an unfair advantage. Under the present system, the two electoral votes that all states receive for their senators give less-populous states more electoral votes per person than larger states. The Electoral College undermines a key democratic value—the notion that every citizen’s vote is equally important” (stateuniversity.com). This shows how the electoral college isn’t totally fair but thinks about smaller towns as their voice matters to. Another example of this as seen on Slate website, “Wyoming, the least populous state, contains only about one-sixth of 1 percent of the U.S. population, but its three electors (of whom two are awarded only because Wyoming has two senators like every other state) give it slightly more than one-half of 1 percent of total electoral votes” (thegreenpapers.com). This shows how even this small state of Wyoming got a bigger vote with less people.
Another pro about the Electoral College would be it keeping us away from the possibility of a recount of the whole nation. An example of this would was in 2000, we had a fiasco here in Florida and after that happened there had to be a recount