Structure and function of the Electoral College
The Electoral College is a process that was enjoined in the constitution by America’s founding fathers such as Hamilton. Its primary purpose is to offer a compromise between the election of the president by a popular vote of competent citizens and determination of the president by a vote in Congress (Jost and Giroux 44). The second purpose for its formation was to be part of the organization of government that gave special authority to the smaller states.
Why was it created and by whom?
The Electoral College is made up 538 voters of whom to elect the head of state, a majority of 270 electoral votes is needed in order for the a presidential candidate to win the electoral vote. The allotted
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The consequence of the college over the popular vote is the fact all states are given a chance to select the president, for example in the year 2000 there was controversy in Florida over disputed votes count, but their votes counted in the Electoral College. Another advantage is that the college certifies the outcome of a presidential election. Also, the Electoral College systems aim is to protect the choice of illiterate voters who can be easily manipulated through the traditional vote.
The Continued Existence of the Electoral College and its Value
The most important reason why the college is still existent is to ensure that all states are equally represented in the election of the president. The voter enjoys the value of the college vote since it protects him or her from electing someone who is not fit or responsible enough to hold the position of the president of the United States. The college vote is also valuable to a citizen since the delegates seating in the college are selected by the citizen (Bromwich 2). Therefore, they represent his or her will and opinion to the fullest. Another advantage of the college is that it produces clear and legit winners. The difference between the presidential candidates in the college vote is usually bigger than the one in the
First off, what is the Electoral College? The Electoral College is the process put in place by our Founding Fathers in which America votes for its President and Vice President every four years. The Electoral College was put in place to help prevent abuse of power and corruption by having a separation of government. The Electoral College is made up of representatives from each state based on how many Senate and House of Representative delegates that state has. These numbers range from 3 to 54 with the total number of electors being 538. This system has taken much scrutiny over time. According to Lenz and Holman, “The Electoral College may be the least-known and most misunderstood government institution in the American political system.”
Though our founding fathers created the Electoral College over 200 years ago, it has been changed with time to accommodate modern needs and is still an important and necessary part of our electoral system. The Electoral College ensures political stability in our nation by encouraging the two-party system and also protects the interests of minorities. Furthermore, the Electoral College helps maintain a united country by requiring widespread popular support of a candidate in order for him or her to become president.
Most states are always republican or democratic in the way they vote. So the amount of votes is already in favor of one candidate or another before voting actually arrives.(Document 7). Since the candidates are always insured a certain number of votes, the candidates only have to worry about “swing states” or states that change their decisions every election. Since the non-swing states never decide in favor of one candidate or the other by themselves the power to elect a new president resides with whom the citizens of swing states vote for. Without an electoral college, each citizen's vote would be worth more and everyone could help determine a new president instead of the select few who are living in “swing states.” All of these reasons help to make it clear that the electoral college is a corrupt
It was created to allow all citizens to participate in elections directly while also giving smaller states some leverage and weight in the presidential elections. The electoral college also allowed constituents a chance to participate directly in the election for chief executive by voting for the electors, or people selected by citizens to cast electoral votes in the presidential elections. It also allowed for the smaller, less populated states to have more pull in the presidential election than they would if the president was simply elected by popular vote.
So what is the electoral college as defined in the constitution? The electoral college is a slate of electors who will cast the real votes for the president and vice president. These electors are appointed by the state in proportional amount to the number of senators that each state are entitled by congress as well as entitled representatives.. The actions of these electors and the manner of how they will be chosen is outlined by the Constitution, “The Congress may determine the Time of choosing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall
Established in Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution, the Electoral College is a system utilized in The United States of America to select the President and Vice President. This process was established by the Founding Fathers in 1787, when the Constitution was written. The original purpose of the electoral system was to ensure that those who select the leaders of this nation were the most knowledgeable and informed people that America had to offer. The electors - the elected officials that make up the Electoral College - are elected to office through a general election wherein the entire national population has the right to vote. The President of the United States, however, is actually elected to office by the Electoral College only, regardless of the popular vote of the citizens in general. Thus, the Presidential election is the only federal election in our nation where the vote of the citizenry does not directly determine the victor. Despite the fact that this electoral system has been in place and operational for over two hundred years, the Electoral College is looked upon by some as an honorable system, whereas others view it as faulty. The Electoral College is not fair and equitable because it is based on population, it is not trusted by the people, and it is unjust to the wishes of the citizens.
One of the greatest accomplishments in the history of the United States was the creation of the Constitution. It was created by the Framers who included many important and specific rules to make sure that the government would be able to sustain itself. The Idea of the Electoral College was first introduced in this constitution as a way to make sure that there was a buffer between the population and the selection of a President. They did not want a dictatorship to arise due to a manipulative candidate. In recent history, the Electoral College has been a very controversial topic. Many people do not agree with it and believe that it should be abolished due to varying factors such as the unequal distribution of votes per state. When the Framers first created the Electoral College, I believe that there hopes of what it would become have not been met and that they would not be pleased with it in today's government.
The Electoral College was created during the Constitutional Convention in 1787 when the framers of the constitution debated many options for determining how the President of the United States would be chosen. The Electoral College was created to give smaller states a voice in the process of choosing a President for the United States. If a President was chosen through popular vote, people feared numerous candidates would be receiving votes and a candidate would win the most votes from a populous state instead of votes from smaller states. Another option for voting for the President was that Congress would
The Electoral College provides people with a way to select the president of the nation. The Electoral College is used in the presidential election as a counting method for votes per state. In this way everyone who is a registered voter is allowed to vote for who they believe is the best candidate. Since our democracy is a representative democracy and not a direct democracy, the people have to decide who will best represent their ideas, morals, and overall interests in the direction of the county as a whole. The Electoral College gives power to the people in selecting the ruler of the nation thus establishing them as a sovereign entity.
The electoral college has been choosing a president for the United States of America for hundred of years. The college has been put in effect in 1787 in order to balance the needs of large and small states. But this has stopped people from choosing their wanted president. The electoral vote has trumped the popular vote many times during presidential election. The electoral college is an unfair voting system which can favor mostly large states and limit the say of people in choosing their leader.
The Founding Fathers, with much debate, established the Electoral College to determine the process for selecting a president and vice president for the upcoming four-year term. While constructing the United States Constitution in response to a compromise between Congressional and popular votes, decisions were made to determine the best method to avoid majority control of the Executive Branch (Patterson, 2013). Article II Section 1 of our Constitution details the composition and operation of the Electoral College while not detailing limitations on votes. Each state is entitled to representation in the Electoral College equal in
The Electoral College, first instituted in 1787, is designed to give all states in the United States a say in who the president will be. The Electoral College works by giving a vote to each House Representative and Senator for the state. The senators and representatives for a state cast their ballot based on the popular vote in the state. Whichever candidate gets the most electoral votes in the state gets all the electoral votes for the state; this is called the winner take all system. Many people believe the Electoral College is flawed and should be changed while others believe it should be thrown away altogether. There are many things about the Electoral College that should be changed but the system is not completely broken. The Electoral College is a flawed process, but one that is needed for a fair election. The way electoral votes are given is fair but, how a President is chosen with no majority, which is a requirement to become president, and the winner take all system are ineffective and must be changed because they do not reflect the true will of the people.
The Electoral College is a constitutional system written in 1787, in this system “each state selects as many electors as it has representatives in Congress”, members of the college casts ballots for individuals, the individual with the most electoral votes becomes the President of the United States (Shelley 80). It is
538 is the sum of the nation’s 435 Representatives, 100 Senators, and 3 electors given to the District of Columbia.
Electoral College is a block, or weighed, voting system that is designed to give more power to the states with more votes, but allows for small states to swing an election, as happened in 1876. Under this system, each state is assigned a specific number of votes that is proportional to its population, so that each state's power is representative of its population. So, while winning the popular vote may not ensure a candidate's victory, a candidate must gain popular support of a particular state to win the votes in that state. The goal of any candidate is to put together the right combination of states that will give him or her 270 electoral votes.