Paper

American government

Final paper

Abolishment of the Electoral College

The Electoral College dates back to the writing of the Constitution. The founding fathers concluded that we needed a system in place for the election of the nation’s president. It is said that they believed we needed the Electoral College because the citizens could not be trusted to elect a President. Whether they felt the people were not educated enough or involved enough is unclear. There are many arguments of whether or not the Electoral College is a needed entity in the process of the Nation electing a President. Some Americans feel that the President should be elected on the popular vote alone, meaning the general public would be electing the president and not those of the actual Electoral College. Others feel that the EC is needed and should be kept because it leaves it to people that are more educated about the subject. Having the popular vote decide on the president is the side of the argument that I stand on. The Electoral College delegates are appointed by their particular party (i.e. Democrat or Republican) to represent their views. These individuals are supposed to elect a president that the people would approve of and has the same values of the people of that state. I will argue why it the Electoral College is not needed and the popular vote can stand alone. There are numerous reasons the EC is not needed, but I will discuss only a few. The EC contributes to the low number of voter turnouts; some of the votes in one state are worth more than votes in another state, and its failure to accurately reflect the national popular will.

Voting turn out is something that is a constant struggle with the popular vote. This is because most voters do not believe that their vote truly matters. In a poll taking in 2011 by Lydia Saad of the Gallop Political column, she found that 62% of Americans would swap the EC for the popular vote. If the voters do not have the Faith in the...