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¶ … Electoral College
The reason for the Electoral College is so that larger states (in terms of population) are not given an unfair advantage over smaller states. For example if a large state with a large population votes for one president, that state still is only able to contribute a set number of electoral votes to that president; this is meant as a protection of other states, who may not have as many voters but still have a right to a voice in the election process. The thinking is that a state with a large population cannot sway the vote inordinately in the direction that it chooses. This is controversial among those who view the country as a whole and not as a union of individual states. The electoral college is more of a states' rights issue. Some people, however, view the process as outmoded and feel that elections should be won by popular vote and not by the electoral votes of individual states. Thus, if the majority of the people in, say, New York and California choose to vote for one president, their votes will have just as much impact as many several other states combined simply because of the number of people...
Popular vote plays to the regional advantage of these states as a result -- and smaller states are less represented in effect. The popular vote supporters assert that such should be the case anyway, since smaller states have a smaller number of people typically -- but states' rights advocates assert that the Constitution was established in order to protect states' rights against populism and central power.
As Underhill (2012) notes, "four presidents have been elected without winning a majority of the popular vote" -- a point which seems to condemn the process. However, the fact is that these presidents were elected on a state by state basis -- not on a popular vote basis, so pointing out that they did not receive the majority of the popular votes is irrelevant because that is not how the system was set up to work. It is only made an issue by persons who believe the system is unfair and needs to change. As Gregg (2011) points out, these individuals are "enemies" of the plan set up by the nation's founding fathers. The National Popular Vote Plan (NVP) is their solution to the "problem" of the…
References
Gregg, G. L. (2011). "Unpopular vote: Enemies of the Electoral College aim to scrap the Founders' design." The American Conservative 10 (12), 33+.
Underhill, W. (2012). Changing up the Electoral College? State Legislatures, 38(1), 9.
Electoral College The current function of the Electoral College is that each state has a set number of votes for the President, based on the population of that state. The candidate with the most votes in that state would receive all of that state's Electoral College votes. The system has come under fire from critics would point out the flaws in this system. For example, it does not differentiate between a
Electoral College System A Necessary Part of Elections The reason for the Electoral College is so that larger states (in terms of population) are not given an unfair advantage over smaller states. For example if a large state with a large population votes for one president, that state still is only able to contribute a set number of electoral votes to that president; this is meant as a protection of other states,
The Electoral College could easily lead to the election of a President that does not have the popular support of the entire nation (Amar pp). Moreover, many believe that the clauses of the U.S. Constitution that provide for the electoral system should be removed before the country elects a candidate despite the fact that another candidate received more votes (Amar pp). Today, technology allows for an informed national electorate as
Electoral College When the constitution of United States was framed there were discussions on various methods of selecting the President and the method of a direct popular vote was rejected. The reasons for rejection were the poor state of communications and the large distances in between the states. This was felt to make the voters really be familiar with the candidates from their own states and this might lead to the
Supporters of the current system claim it allows small states and small town America to have a say in the election. The candidates go to every corner of the battleground states and many people get the opportunity to meet and question them. Many feel that is a major benefit of the Electoral College. Another benefit many see is that it gives the winning candidate the majority of the vote.
ELECTORAL COLLEGE BE ABOLISHED? The Electoral College system for electing the President was widely examined and often criticized following the November, 2000 election. Two times in recent history we faced the possibility that a Presidential candidate would get most of the popular vote and yet lose in the Electoral College. The Electoral College interferes with the individual voter's opportunity to express a preference for one candidate over another because only