BrittanyCritchfield

Shimmin
English12Q4
18May2016
AbolishmentoftheElectoralCollege

EachStateshallappoint,insuchMannerastheLegislaturethereofmaydirect,
aNumberofElectors,equaltothewholeNumberofSenatorsandRepresentativesto
whichtheStatemaybeentitledintheCongress:butnoSenatororRepresentative,or
PersonholdinganOfficeofTrustorProfitundertheUnitedStates,shallbeappointed
anElector.

ThisisthebeginningofArticleII,SectionIoftheUnitedStatesConstitution.Itis
theoutlineofwhathascometobeknownastheElectoralCollege.Theframersofthe
ConstitutionoutlinedthismethodforelectingthePresidentasacompromisebetween
thosewhowantedavoteintheSenateandthosewhowantedapopularvote.While
thereweregoodintentionsbehindcreatingthissystem,overtimeithasproventobe
unsuitedforcontinueduseintheUnitedStates.
TheElectoralCollegeisasysteminwhicheachstatehasacertainamountof
electorsforpresident.Thenumberisdeterminedbyaddingthenumberof
representativesthestatehasintheHouseofRepresentatives,plustwoforthe
Senators.Moststatesfollowawinnertakeallsysteminwhichthecandidatewhich
receivesthemajorityinastate,winsalltheelectorsforthatstate.Thereareacombined
totalof538electors,andacandidatemustwin270tosecurethepresidency.This
systemwasmadeinawaywhichcaterstotheelite,astheelectorsdonotnecessarily
havetovotethesamewaythepeopledo:Theprocesswasneverintendedtobe
democratic.Thefirstpresidentswereappointedbyelites,notelectedbythemasses
(Holcombe).MostAmericansdonotrealizethesignificancetheElectoralCollegeplays

indeterminingapresident,andhowitaffectstheirownvotes.Thisconfusionneedsto
beclearedupinorderforabettersystemtobecreated.
TheElectoralCollegeisaproblembecauseitspoliciesplacemoreweighton
somecitizensvotesthanothers,itplacesundueemphasisonsomestatesduringthe
electionprocess,anditcanleadtoanundeservingcandidatewinningthePresidency.
TheElectoralCollegeisanunnecessarypoliticalrelicfromcenturiespast,and
Americanshouldtakeeveryactionpossibletoridthemselvesofthisundemocratic
process.
ThefirstreasontheElectoralCollegeshouldbereplacedisthatisgivessome
citizensmorepowerthanothersindeterminingapresident.Becauseoftheway
electorsaredistributed,basedonrepresentativesandsenators,therearelessvoters
perelectorinsmallerpopulatedstatesthanlargerones.Thiscanleadtoavotefroma
smallstatehavingthreetimesthatweightasavoteinalargestate(Walbert).Inthe
representativedemocracytheU.S.strivestobe,votesshouldnothavemoreweight
simplybecausetheycomefromadifferentlocation.GettingridoftheElectoralCollege
wouldmeanthateverycitizenhasanequalsayinwhobecomesPresident.
AnotherargumentagainsttheElectoralCollegeisthatiscreatesabiastowards
certainstatesintheelectionprocess.Therearecertainstateswhichareassumedwill
voteeitherDemocratorRepublicaninanygivenelection.Becauseofthe
winnertakeallsystem,thereislittlereasonforapresidentialcandidatetospendtimein
thesestates.Underthissystem,itismoreusefulforthemtofocusonmoderatelysized
swingstates,whichcandeterminetheelectionoutcome.Thistiesintotheunequal
distributionproblem,asoutlinedbyLaraBrown:Democratshavemorevotersthanthey
needinplaceslikeCalifornia,andnotenoughvotersinplaceslikeIndiana.This
aggregateadvantagedoesnotdirectlytranslateintotheElectoralCollege(Brown).
Thisbiasmeanscandidatesspendtimeinstateswheretherearelessvoters,andthe
distributionwhichcreatesthisbiasmeanstherecanbeadisparitybetweenthepopular
andelectoralvote.

ThisdisparityisthefinalreasontheElectoralCollegeshouldbereplaced.The
processcreatesthepossibilitythatacandidatemaywinthepopularvotebutultimately
losethePresidencybecauseoftheelectoralvote.Thiswasthecaseinthe2000
electionbetweenBushandGore.Gorehadwonthepopularvote,butBushwonthe
presidency.Thisisdecidedlyundemocratic,andbroughttheproblemoftheElectoral
Collegetothepublicagenda:Itwasdifficult...tounderstandhowcitizensoftheUnited
States,thechampionofdemocracy,couldacceptadecisiontoinstallapresidentwho
didnotwinthepopularvote(Wheeler).However,nothingwasdonetoreformthe
process.ThepossibilitythatthePresidencycouldbedecidednotbythepeople,butby
anelitesetofelectors,isnotdemocratic.IftheUnitedStateswishestopurportitselfas
achampionofdemocracy,itneedstohaveademocraticelectionprocess.
SomepeoplemayarguethattheElectoralCollegewascreatedtocatertothe
elite,andshouldstaythatway.Thefounderscreatedtheprocesstokeepuneducated,
uninformedfromhavingtoomuchinfluenceontheelection:Itiswidelybelievedthat
theFoundingFathersdevisedtheElectoralCollegeasinsuranceagainstthe
uneducatedmasseschoosingapopulistpresidentwhowouldbe"unsuitable"forany
numberofreasons.Theyfeared,forexample,thatthedirectelectionofthepresident
wouldconfertoomuchpowertooneperson(Wheeler).Thisisundoubtedlyuntrue,as
thereisahigherpercentageofcitizenswithcollegedegreesthaneverandtheyare
alsomoreinformed:Theincredibleadvancesincommunicationtechnologiessincethe
eighteenthcenturyrendermoottheconcernsthatcitizensdonothaveenough
informationtomakeaninformeddecisionaboutaPresident(Durbin).Whilethissystem
mayhavemadesenseintimeswhereaccesstoinformationandeducationwasminimal
atbest,thereisnoreasonwhyAmericanscannotbeheldresponsibleforchoosingtheir
presidentwhenalltheinformationtheyneedisreadilyavailable.
TheobvioussolutiontothisproblemistoabolishtheElectoralCollege
completely.However,thisiseasiersaidthandone.Inordertochangetoapopularvote
forsenators,itwasnecessarytocreateanentireamendment.Creatingapopularvote
forthePresidencywillrequirebipartisansupportinallareasofgovernment.Therehave

beenattemptstoreformthisprocessbefore,suchasthatbypreviouslymentioned
SenatorDurbin,buttheywereunsuccessfulduetolackofwidesupport.Forareformto
bepassed,citizensneedtobemoreinformedabouttheproblem,andtakeitupon
themselvestocontacttheirrepresentativesregardingit.Thisistheonlywaytomake
sureourdemocracyisatruerepresentationofthepeople.
Inconclusion,theElectoralCollegeisoneofthemostundemocraticaspectsof
ourrepresentativedemocracy.Itgivessomecitizensunduepowerwiththeirvotes,,
whichwasexactlywhatthewritersoftheConstitutionweretryingtoprevent.Itskews
theelectionprocessbygivingattentiontoswingstates,insteadoffocusingonthebig
pictureofthenation.Anditmakesitpossibleforsomeonetowinthepresidencywithout
actuallywinningthemostvotes.TheAmericanpeoplehaveenduredthisundemocratic
processforfartoolong,andarealchangeneedstooccurinordertomakethiscountry
theDemocracyitstrivestobe.

WorksCited

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Durbin,RichardJ."ShouldTheCurrentElectoralCollegeSystemBePreserved?CON."
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Fess,SimeonD."ShouldTheElectoralCollegeBeAbolished?Con."Congressional
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Holcombe,RandallG."OriginsoftheElectoralCollege."
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Walbert,David."DoesMyVoteCount?UnderstandingtheElectoralCollege."Learn
NorthCarolina,n.d.Web.16May2016.

Wheeler,SarahM."PolicyPointCounterpoint:ElectoralCollegeReform."
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