The presidential election is the biggest and most important election held in the United States. In fact in the Presidential election of 2012, approximately 57.5% of the registered voting population exercised their voting rights, while the 2014 congressional election turnout rate of 41.9 percent was its lowest turnout rate since 1978. However, what these citizens who vote in the Presidential election may or may not know is that their votes do not directly influence who is chosen as president. What it does count toward is the number of Electoral College votes that a candidate receives, which would ultimately secure their presidency. The Electoral College is made up of 538 electors, whom each candidate needs at least 270 of their votes to win …show more content…
This is undeniable due to the fact that for a third party to have a chance at winning an election, they would have to disproportionately sway enough States to win, which in itself is an extremely difficult task for an alternative party. Nonetheless, this would almost certainly result in an election won by a very small margin. The marginal division that arises from a three party system could cause the least favorable party to win by a split vote because of the other two parties. This would thereby create national division that would prevent progress from being made, serving as an issue for the electoral system. In fact, history has shown that third parties can botch an election. An example of this is the 1912 Presidential election, where Theodore Roosevelt’s Bull Moose Party split the republican vote by gaining 27% of the vote and allowed Woodrow Wilson of the Democratic Party to win. This election was not the only one of its kind. A similar event took place in the 2000 election between Al Gore and George Bush where Ralph Nader of the Green Party was believed to take a significant amount of votes away from Al Gore, causing his loss. However, these events do not happen frequently because the Electoral College system encourages third party movements to eventually join the two major political parties. If an outer party were to join with a major party, they would have more success getting what they want, but they would have to compromise some of their stances to accommodate the major party. This system inhibits political unions to occur within the government and forces them to transpire within political parties. Therefore, although some contest otherwise, the two party system is more convenient and sufficient than other party systems because it allows for continuity and stability in the government. The Electoral College, subsequently, is necessary
Beginning in America in 1787, the Electoral College was originally created during the Constitutional Convention to help make a fair way for the president to be elected without giving too much power to either the national government or individual states. Over the years, the Electoral College has undergone a few changes in attempt to make it more fair, but there is still much debate about whether or not the Electoral College is the most effective way to elect a president. Some people believe that the Electoral College does an excellent job of creating an equal distribution of votes across all ethnicities and social classes of America. In contrast, others think that the Electoral College does not give an accurate portrayal of the popular
If the electoral college was abolished, then America would have a more pure vote. The electoral college delegates how much say a state has in government and limits some states while promoting the powers of others. The electoral college also has many deformities, including the winner take all system, a less pure vote, and a more concentrated support for a candidate from certain states that make it perfectly reasonable to abolish it.
I agree with this statement because third parties are not very well known enough to get the presidential election and have never had a party member elected into the presidential office. Third party influence is not very high so even though the option is there, more people are likely to vote for the more well known Democratic and Republican than the third party, which means third party candidate votes
Many people argue that the Electoral College is an outdated system. After all, many things have changed in the last two centuries. For one, technology is much more advanced now than it was two hundred years ago. With the internet and television, we can now learn everything about a candidate regardless of where the come from in the nation. It is feasible to have direct election of a president because of these improved methods of communication and the evolution of technology in general.
The article, “Electoral College: An Overview,” written by Ballaro, Beverly, Bourassa, and Cheryl, explains how the electoral college is used and why people do not support it. This article targets anyone who is able to vote in the 2016 election. The purpose of this article is to inform voters that their vote does not always choose the president and explains how the president is chosen and the system behind it. The thesis of this article explains that many people abroad are still unaware that the president is not elected directly by the people. The president is chosen by the electoral college. The electoral college is a body of electors chosen to elect the president and vice president of the united states. This setup allows the chance for an
In presidential elections, citizens do not actually vote for the candidate of their choosing, instead citizens are voting for electors known as the Electoral College. The Electoral College chooses a President, and Vice President. The Constitution gives each state a number of electors that equals the number of House of Representatives and Senate, which totals five hundred and thirty eight and also includes three electors for the District of Columbia. Each state receives a certain number of electors based on population size. The results in a state determine which electors are chosen. All electoral votes in a state go to the candidate that gets the most votes, and after state elections appointed officials certify the popular vote of each state. Two hundred and seventy votes are needed to elect a President; the candidate with the majority of the votes becomes the president.
in their state. In some states laws and restrictions, may apply to future presidential candidates on
I choose to agree with the Electoral College. I don’t want a direct popular election because I want the smaller states to still have a voice, but, if America switches to direct popular election, the way things are, might just go worse. There are some good reasons for a direct popular election, and there are not good reasons for one too. I like the Electoral College a lot, and I would like the voting system to keep it that way. However, our founding fathers created the Electoral College, being the geniuses they are, created a good way to elect a president that would not cause chaos or havoc in the country.
Another reason for the insignificance of third parties and the reason for the two party system is the first-past-the-post (FPTP) voting system. Unfortunately for third parties, the two main parties always tend to come out with the majority even if they don’t win the popular vote. An example of the unfairness of this voting system is in 2008 the independent party of America managed to get 1 in every 5 votes but still didn’t manage to gain seats. Having said that, FPTP in theory allows for a strong stable government with a hefty majority providing they dominate congress and the legislature.
As citizens of the United State of America, one of our most important rights is that of which to vote. By voting, the general population has a say in who its leaders are. Votes for local, state, and even federal representatives directly reflect who the constituents want in office. However, America’s highest office is not elected by a vote of the people. Instead we use a confusing and outdated system called the Electoral College. Our president is not elected by the people, but by 538 electors who can legally vote for whomever they choose. Several times in our nations history an elector has voted against the people’s will. Three presidents have been elected into office by the electoral college and
The Electoral College should stay the same because if neither of the candidates win the electoral votes the House of Representatives are able to select the new President. Therefore each state is allowed to choose who they want for President although if the candidate does not get 270 electoral votes the House of Representatives decide who the next President will be. Although the question is if the Electoral College should stay the same, be abolished, or be changed. However, keeping the Electoral College the same would be more simple because most people understand it and it has been working ever since the government started it.
1787 saw the creation of the Electoral College due to he public lacking enough knowledge to make an enlightened decision on whom to vote for. However, now things are much different in the 21st Century than they were in the 1700’s. Due to new technological innovations, we are able to actually look into our candidate and truly decide if he/she is the one we want to vote for. It for this, and many other reasons that the Electoral College is outdated and unfair, and the Government should shift to the more direct popular vote.
Third parties in the United States do not win, but they do tend to keep elections interesting. Although third parties bring in votes for themselves, most of them have extreme views on issues. These type of views cannot put a party at the top of a nation that mainly consists of moderate individuals. America has one of the most advanced democracies and as a result has developed the two party system. The reason a two party system overpowers a three-party system is because, ideally, the constitution only has two sides to it, the opposing and the supporting. While the United States has a large two party system, third parties have been around for hundreds of years, they play a large part in presidential elections, and within the national government
I agree with that the Electoral College System should be done with. My reasoning for this is in any presidential election, the Electoral College is above the votes of the people of the United States of America. All that a candidate needs when they run for an election is 270 out of the 538 votes in the Electoral College to win the presidency. The Electoral College System over runs the election. It pushes aside the votes of the people and consequently decides who is going to be president for themselves. They say that the American people have a choice in who becomes their president, but it only takes 270 out of 538 of the Electoral College to choose the next president of the United States of America. If the Electoral College chooses who is going to be the next president then what is the reason for the American people to vote? There is
Under the current system there are five hundred and thirty eight electors. Each state gets one elector, each representative, and a senator. A presidential candidate needs two hundred and seventy votes to win the election. The electors meet after the November popular election to cast their votes and officially elect the president. Electors may vote for whomever they wish. Each state's electoral votes are awarded on a winner take all bases.