The topic I chose to write about is whether the U.S election process is fair or not. This topic came to mind while watching the recent presidential elections. Now whether I was for or against the winner is irrelevant. The real question is, “Does our vote really matter?” When the popular vote leans towards candidate A, but the electoral votes lean towards candidate B is it fair the a few hundred votes count more than millions of Americans? In the 18th century our founding fathers created the system of electoral votes believing that the average farmer was not educated enough in politics to make a knowledgeable decision. Even though this may have been true, and it would be a hassle to change the system that has been working, many Americans feel that their vote makes no difference. Our government is run by politicians, politicians who Americans elect and then vote for our president, so whether the presidential election process is fair or not is debatable. …show more content…
Even though there may be some flaws in the system, it has been working since our government began. And the American people elect the electoral voters, who vote for the president based on that counties vote. This process may be corrupt at times, but if you look at this year’s election people wanted a change, and elected Donald Trump. The popular vote was against him, but throughout the country many counties switched sides and voted for him. Many of the votes Hilary obtained came from bigger cities who are always Democrat. This essay will take some thinking, but it is something that has happened recently and opened my
As different problems have come up and been resolved in the presidential election process, it has, over time, become more democratic. The Electoral College is voted for by the people, primaries/caucuses allow citizens to nominate delegates to vote for their nominee, and the two-party system is broad enough to allow many people to participate in the election process. All in all, even though we don’t directly elect our president, we still play a huge part in electing the people who do vote and because of this, I think the system is very
Despite the Electoral College system being founded by the founding fathers in America and being there as long as the Constitution exists, many people still do not have sufficient knowledge on how it works. The Electoral College does not provide honest presidential elections rather it has the potential to undo the will of people at any point from the selection of electors to the vote tallying in Congress (Shaw, 3). Electoral College in the United States has played a major role in depressing the voter's turnout. Every State is given an equal number of electoral votes despite the population and in turn, the system has put in place no measure to encourage the voters to take part in the elections. Besides, the system distorts
Not all systems are perfect, nor is the Electoral College. As we seen in the 2016 presidential election, the popular vote may not necessarily get the majority in the Electoral College resulting in what is criticized not to be as democratic when the popular vote winner, Hillary Clinton in this case, was the loser of the election. The outcome of the election can be dictated by the electors and in some cases not reflect the will of the people. Also, the winner-take-all clause creates a possibility that the popular vote gets nothing even in a situation when is it very close to half the votes. All states except for
America has been acknowledged as being one of the world’s leading democracies, but to continue implementing the use of the Electoral College creates some distortion to that title. The out of date system does not accurately portray democracy. Theoretically, a democracy is government system that is ruled by the people. In reality, an individual’s vote may not matter depending on the state they reside in. Robert Dahl, a Democratic Theorist stated, “every member must have an equal and effective opportunity to vote, and all votes must be counted as equal.” Political equality is important to the distribution of power. Even if a person is wealthy and of power their vote should be counted the same as someone in poverty.
I will reflect on my persuasive speech regarding why the electoral vote is better than the popular vote. The beginning of the speech build a case for why anyone would want to switch to the popular vote in the first place, and the second part explained why the electoral vote is still better. Some of the advantages of the popular vote included that not every vote is considered equal, swing states, and that people are more informed through the media today than in the past. Despite these benefits, the electoral college supports federalism, which assists with the dispersion of power, and gives midwestern states a voice in the election. Additionally, any recount due to fraud or negligence would be on a statewide level opposed to a federal level.
In this country, we hold elections every four years to select the president. The founding fathers of our country established the electoral college to give the original thirteen states a fair voice in the election process. This country electoral called the electoral college into question on more the one occasion. In the most recent election, President-elect Donald Trump won the electoral vote over Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote. This election has sent the country into an uproar and citizens of the United States are now challenging the legitimacy of the electoral college process. This paper will examine whether this process is reliable and valid when choosing the leadership of this country.
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
The outcome of the 2016 election left many Americans feeling confused, angry, cheated, and terrified of the future. Somehow, the sexist, racist, homophobic candidate Donald Trump had become the nation’s president, though Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton received the majority of popular vote. This raised many questions over the constitutionality of the Electoral College system, and whether it was unfair to the people of the United States. In the electoral system, created by the Founding Fathers due to their lack of trust in the people, the constituents of each state vote for their preferred candidate, and all of the state’s electoral votes go to the candidate with a majority. Clearly, the Electoral
Most Americans would be surprised to find out that when they go vote for the President of the United States that they are not voting directly for the President, they are instead voting for the people that in turn vote for President. A recent survey conducted by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute found that only 65.88% of people knew anything about the way the commander and chief is elected. Even more staggering though is that only 57.31% of elected officials within the United States government knew the way the President is elected (Additional). America elects its President is through a complex process of state electors that vote on behalf of their constituents. This process is called the Electoral College, and it is written directly into the United States Constitution. The Electoral College is a system unique to America, so most reform options won’t be accepted by the American people or won't represent the the opinions of the majority of Americans if this system is changed.
Electing government officials is a major part of being an American. The citizens of the United States have the privilege of voting for their officials , representing America’s democracy. Although a big misconception on this is that the people actually do not vote directly for who becomes elected president but rather who gets to elect the next president. The Electoral College has been in place since 1804 and continues to be the system the United States uses to elect the president. The Electoral College is filled with history, a lengthy process , and questionable arguments on its validity.
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 Constitution of the United States of America created a system called the Electoral College where it outlines the rules in which we elect the President of the United States of America. As stated in Article 2, Section 1 of the U. S. Constitution created the Electoral College. Each state receives as many electoral votes as it has senators and representatives. Therefore, each state, including the District of Columbia, will have at least three electors. This is the vision of the Constitution. Now the problem arises when all the Electoral votes from one state are given to the popular winner for that state. This causes a with people’s right to chose their leader as votes of the people that voted for the losing candidate are tossed in the trash. All this while giving the state the ultimate power to elect the president.
The United States, well known for its democracy, holds elections every four years to elect its President. Every American citizen over the age of 18 has a right to cast a vote in the presidential election. The voting process, although it seems easy and straightforward, can be very complicated. In the 2000 election, Al Gore captured the majority of votes, but George Bush won. The reason for this strange outcome and why Al Gore lost was because of the Electoral College. The Electoral College is voting system where different states are given a certain amount of votes in the election, and which ever candidate wins a state, is given that state’s votes. The Electoral College is out of date, and should be replaced by the Popular Vote system,
Is the presidential election process fair? Countries throughout the world elect their leaders using all kinds of methods, and in the United States, we elect our President using an Electoral College. This process is long and complicated, and many believe that it is inequitable and that we should elect our President based off the popular vote. On the contrary, an election based off the popular vote creates a democracy, and goes away with federalism. Our current election process is archaic, and an election by popular vote obviates smaller states from being heard and goes against the foundation of America, however, a system derived from electoral votes per state being distributed to the top two candidates in that state, predicated on that states popular vote, allows each state to be heard, as well as the individual voters.
Do you have a favorite president? Have you ever voted for president? The United States election process was created in 1787 and went into action in 1789 by the founding fathers (“Presidential Elections”). In the first election, two candidates that ran for office included George Washington and John Adams. Through the original election process, George Washington ended up taking office (“Electoral College”). The election process has changed many times since 1789 to become the current election process. Our election process is fair because the candidates and voters have beneficial requirements, the candidates give a valid preview of their government ideas, and the candidate votes are determined by both the public and experienced politicians.