...The Electoral College consists of 538 electors. A majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the President (“What is the Electoral College”, 2016). The election is solely based on the electoral college vote. The popular votes are gathered by each state in the country. Once this is done, each state will submit all electoral votes for the candidate with the most popular votes in the state. The size of the state does not affect electoral votes. Each state is allowed as many electoral votes as it has Senators and Representatives of Congress. Thus, all states, no matter how small, have at least three electoral votes (Polsby & Wildavsky, 1968, p.32). In simpler terms, the candidate who wins the state’s majority votes wins the state's electoral...
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...The electoral college is pretty Important to the United States of America. It helps us elect who our next president will be from the two candidates that are campaigning to become the next president. The electoral college provides a clear and indefinite result on who the next president would be. The electoral college was created by our founding fathers. The electoral college also makes sure that every state plays a role on who the United States's citizens new president would be. There is a lot of debate on wether the electoral college should be abolished or not but, I believe that the electoral college should not be abolished. First the electoral college provides a clear message on who the president will be so there is no confusion or conflict....
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...The Electoral College is derived from Article II of the Constitution, which asserts that each state has a number of electoral votes equal to its total number of Representatives to the House of Representatives and its two Senators. The 12th amendment dives further into the Electoral College process by establishing a majority is needed to be elected president and setting the guidelines to electing a president if neither candidate has a majority (House of Representatives votes). Recently, the Electoral College has become a subject of controversy. The primary concern with the Electoral College is that it raises the importance of particular states during the election cycle. The election focuses on those states thus diminishing the impact of the...
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...I believe that the electoral college is an integral part of the United States election process and that it is the fairest way to determine the victor in the presidential race. I believe the electoral college is integral to the election process because I value the fundamental ideals of American republicanism, especially that all people are equal and the fairness that our system of government has established. Though I believe that the electoral college is a necessary part of the United States’ election process, there are others who believe that it is unfair, yet they too value equality and fairness. When I first learned that there was an argument against the electoral college system, I was stunned; however, after a deeper investigation of the...
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...Electoral College, Time for Change? By Chris Brady May 21, 2014 Introduction: The history of the Electoral College was born by the founding fathers during the Constitutional Convention. There were roughly four ideas of how to elect a president to the United States. First was the idea of giving the power to Congress to choose the president, but detractors worried that giving the authority to Congress could create corruption, political bargaining, and foreign influence on their choice. Plus this could upset the balance of power that the founding fathers were trying to create with the Constitution. Secondly was the idea of giving the authority to the state legislatures. This idea was swiftly rejected for the fact that many believed that the president could be controlled by the State Legislature and decrease the federal authority and undermine the founding fathers idea of separation of powers. The third idea was to let the president be chosen by a direct popular vote. This was also rejected because the founding fathers believed that because of the lack of information for a candidate a state would just vote for a candidate from that particular state or region. The framers saw the possibility of at worst that no president would emerge with a popular majority sufficient to govern the whole country. They believed that for a best case scenario would be that the choice of president would always be decided by the largest, most populous States with little regard for the smaller ones...
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...Should the Electoral College be abolished? Most Americans know very little about the Electoral College, unless it’s an election year in which an increased number of Americans gain a general understanding of the system. Among Americans who have an understanding of the Electoral College system there is often debate as to whether or not America should still use the system that dates back to our founding fathers. These debates unearth topics such as how the Electoral College is the best compromise for our country, or how the system is outdated and was only created so the founding fathers could perpetuate slavery. Although the Electoral College is not a perfect system, it should not be abolished. What is the Electoral College? “The Electoral College...
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...The Electoral College The Electoral College is a highly outdated system that needs to be removed from our presidential elections. Without the electoral college presidential candidates would be have to campaign nationwide instead of focusing on a few battleground states that hold key electoral votes. This scenario would ultimately lead to the best man standing as our next president. In today’s society the Electoral College is unnecessary and unwanted. This system was introduced in 1787 because delegates were unsure if the general public would have the knowledge to make an informed decision in a presidential election. 228 years later with the inventions of the television and the Internet it would be hard to argue that the public is no longer informed on the candidates and their positions. The Electoral College is discouraging to many and therefore causes countless people to not vote. For example, in Texas many democrats will not cast a vote because they deem it useless in a Republican dominated state. The removal of the Electoral College would encourage every voter to cast a ballot and those votes would actually mean something. The removal of the Electoral College will cause presidential candidates to take notice of the entire United States. “For example a full 99% of all advertising by the two major candidates were concentrated in only 17 of the states.” (Source D) Presidential candidates tend to focus all of their attention on those states considered battleground...
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...If college and the Electoral College have anything in common, it is that they both throw away the importance of what was once important. Grades have less value in college; popular votes, as in the public’s votes, have less value in the Electoral College. Nonetheless, both have a plethora of differences, a major one being that no one wants to terminate college whereas the fate of the Electoral College is hotly debated. Should the Electoral College be abolished? To conclude an answer, one should understand the functionalities of it. The Electoral College is a process, penned by the Founding Fathers hundreds of years ago, that is used to determine the United States’ President and vice-president indirectly. Each state will receive a certain amount...
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...Twain is often credited with saying, “If voting made and difference, they wouldn’t let us do it”. The Electoral College is the current system for electing the president of the United States. The History Channel states, Americans do not actually directly vote for the president of the United States, when Americans vote, they are actually voting for the candidate for which their state's electors are expected to vote for. States are given the number of electors that they have representatives in congress. The number of electors that a state receives is determined proportionately, but a state must have a minimum of three electors with a total number of electors at 538. William C. Kimberly, Deputy Director FEC National Clearinghouse on Election...
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...four years, a new President has to be elected. As a result, there are several presidential campaigns and debates. Millions of Americans go out to cast their votes in hope of choosing the best suite President. Unfortunately, not all the votes have a significant importance and not all the electoral votes are valued the same. Smaller states have more power than bigger states despite the fact of the big population differences. Despite the fact that the candidate has to have at least 270 electoral votes, the electoral vote creates more flaws by having the winner take all policy. There have been several cases in which the leading candidate has taken all the electoral votes regardless of the amount of votes received by the opposing candidate....
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...Christian Llerena BUS 200 Dr. Lasher 3/19/12 The Electoral College is defined as “a body of electors chosen by the voters of each state to elect the President and Vice President of the United States”. The Electoral College system has been a staple in the United States since the ratification of The Constitution, however there is much debate on whether it should remain or be done away with completely. In this essay, I will give a brief history on the Electoral College, how it works, and why it was created in the first place. Despite the shortcomings and limitations of the Electoral College I believe that it should not be abolished because it contributes to the cohesiveness of the country, it maintains a federal system of government, and it maintains the interests of minority groups. To begin with, I will discuss how the Electoral College works. The Electoral College operates by having each state allocate a number of electors equal to the number of its U.S. Senators (always 2) along with the number of its U.S. Representatives (varies from state to state depending on its population). Next, after all their caucuses and primaries, each party nominates their candidates for president and vice president. After that, the people from each state vote for a party’s slate of electors. Whichever party slate gains the most popular votes becomes the slate of electors for that state. Then, the electors meet in their respective state’s capitol and cast their votes for president and vice...
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...called the Electoral College. The process of the electoral college is complex and has many components to how it works. The only power the people have over the electoral college is the ability to appoint our electors through the popular vote; however, the electors have free reign, without needing consent from the people, over who is in charge every four years. Within the Electoral College is a rich history, pros and cons, how electors are chosen, how the difference of the popular vote cause Serbian states to be swing states, and why past elections have brought up questions about if the electoral college should be amended. The original philosophy behind the electoral college is what has caused the rich history of the electoral college. Everything began in 1789 when the idea of the electoral college came to elect our very first president. The Electoral College is a system of selecting the next president by electors who vote based on the popular vote of America (U.S. Electoral College). Alexander Hamilton created the original form of the...
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...Alexander Hamilton’s Electoral College and the Modern Election Colin Campbell Prof. R Hurl TA: Matthew Lesch Tutorial: Thursday, 4:00 PM, UC 67) U. S. Government and Politics (POL 208 Y1Y) 1 November 2012 Alexander Hamilton’s Electoral College and the Modern Election When American's leaders assembled in Philadelphia in 1787, they originally had the goal of solving issues that had arisen from the Articles of Confederation, which had governed the young nation since separating from Britain. Instead, they drafted a completely new document that established a more permanent and effective central government. With it, they established the office of President of the United States. Rather than being directly elected by the people or selected by the legislature – as described by Alexander Hamilton in the Federalist Papers – the head of state was to be elected by an independent institution that existed solely for the purpose of finding a man who was up to the job: a group that would become known as the Electoral College. However, as the political nature of the country evolved in an unanticipated and partisan way, the independence of this body became increasingly irrelevant, resulting in a system which fails to meet the standards of a true modern democracy. Although the Electoral College system has never substantially been reformed, it is now a mere formality which leads to the types of campaigns which it was designed to prevent. In The Federalist, Number 68, Hamilton argues...
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...The Electoral College (EC) was established in Article II of the Constitution and amended by the 12th Amendment in 1804. Each state gets a number of electors equal to its number of members in the U.S. House of Representatives plus one for each of its two U.S. Senators creating a total of 538 electoral votes. A majority winner must receive 270 votes to be elected. With a few minor exceptions, the Electoral College gives all of the electoral votes for each state to the plurality winner in that state, regardless of the margin of victory. This "winner takes all" arrangement at the state level can elect a President who loses the popular vote, as was the case in 1824, 1876, 1888, and 2000. Firstly, one reason supporting the abolishment of the EC is that it suppresses the popular will. This is because it may allow a candidate to win despite only receiving a minority of votes across the country as a whole. For example, in the 2000 elections Gore received approximately 500,000 more of the popular vote than Bush winning in most major cities and urban counties. However, Bush received more electoral votes throughout the rest of the nation winning more than three times the amount of counties than Gore. It also suppresses the popular will through faithless electors. These are members of the House of Representatives who were chosen to vote for a party but do not vote for their state’s preferred candidate. For example, in the 2000 election, Barbara Simmons abstained voting for Al Gore to protest...
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...separation of powers and the requirement that all be included in policy making is what sets our country apart in its pursuit of democratic values. It was a disturbing omission in the initial Constitution of the specific meaning of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". The later ratification of the first ten amendments did go a long way towards clarification of the rights of the citizenry. If I had been a part of the original framers, I might have been more specific in the defining of the terms used within the original document. As previously stated I feel that there is a strong argument for the first Amendment, Religion, Speech, Assembly, and Petition, being considered to be the most important. While I understand and respect the importance of...
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