After the presidential election in 2016, debates continue to go on over the move from using the Electoral College votes to decide the winner of the election versus the popular vote. The founding fathers created the Electoral College, a body of electors established by the United States Constitution, which forms every four years for the sole purpose of electing the President and Vice President of the United States. It created as a compromise between electing the President by the Congress and the popular vote of qualified citizens. (Archives) Mostly, candidates win states and get the delegate votes from that state. The candidate with the most delegate votes wins the election.
Many believe the reasoning behind the founding fathers' decision to create the Electoral College is no longer relevant. I'm leaning towards agreeing with this viewpoint. Advances in modern technology give people the ability to make more informed decisions because of access to information. News sources offer different points of view and are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In my opinion, the Electoral College system gives too much power to the swing states. Elections can be decided by delegates from a few states instead of listening to the will of the people throughout the whole country.
Proponents of the Electoral College believe that it assures that everyone's voice is equal, especially the people in states where there are more rural areas. There is a concern that candidates would focus more on the populated areas and leave out states with smaller populations. Farmers and people who work in the agricultural industry are concerned their voices wouldn't be heard because of this. Swing states bring attention to the issues of the people in those states from the candidates who are trying to win them. So farmer's issues gain more attention across the country because of this.Keeping the Electoral College in a time when citizens have access to so many news sources and ways of getting information from candidates leads me to believe that we no longer need the Electoral College. Although this may be an uphill battle because many people are afraid of change, especially when it comes to changing the Constitution, it is undoubtedly worth discussing further. By the time I'm able to voice my opinion in the next presidential election, I hope to have a new system of counting the voices of every person.
Citations:
Engstrom, Tim. "Electoral College good for the Midwest." Daily Journal,
Fergusfallsjournal.com, 26 May 2016, www.fergusfallsjournal.com/opinion/
electoral-college-good-for-the-midwest/
article_573e536f-a5d5-57de-ad99-c5ca20d5248c.html. Accessed 19 Dec. 2019
Roos, Dave. "Why Was the Electoral College Created?" History.com, 15 July 2019,
www.history.com/news/
electoral-college-founding-fathers-constitutional-convention. Accessed 19
Dec. 2019
Townsend, Ryan. "Electoral College Must Be Abolished." DailyTrojan, 29 Oct.
2012, dailytrojan.com/2012/10/29/electoral-college-must-be-abolished/.
Accessed 19 Dec. 2019
"What is the Electoral College?" National Archives and Records Administration,
Archives.gov, www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/
about.html. Accessed 19 Dec. 2019
A good overview of a complicated issue. What is your view of the concern about candidates campaigning in more populated areas? Is there a compromise we could come to, such as splitting the electoral college votes, as Maine does?
ReplyDeleteHello Ms. LaClair, although splitting the electoral college votes would be somewhat beneficial. Especially, for example, in the 2016 presidential election results, we see that the majority of voters chose either, Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. Electoral college votes could be split to those candidates to eliminate those with a few percentages. Although this would resolve part of the problem, abolishing the electoral college would listen to the will of the people and not give power to the swing states. I do not think campaigning in more populated areas is a concern because candidates need the most votes to win, even with abolishing the electoral college there are still more people in different states. New Hampshire and California as an example.
ReplyDeleteThank You.