The Electoral College system in America is a way of voting that is seen as unfair to certain respects and as having too much power in regulating those who get elected into office. For example, Bush was elected in 2000 due to the Electoral College vote, even though Gore won the popular vote. People woke up after the election the next morning and saw Bush in office rather than the person who they thought was the victor. This is why the Electoral College needs to be reformed so that the popular vote in each state’s district is represented by one College vote, leaving the state’s two senators to vote as they normally would and represent the popular vote of the entire state, with each vote from the Electoral College going to the candidate who won it, rather than all of them going to who the state chooses overall. However, people can argue that the election process should not be changed, and they will be addressed by the following statements/information.
First, one might say that the Electoral College system has been working for so long, so there’s no reason to change it. For example, the Gateline article Electoral College Shouldn’t Change says that our system is unique and has worked for the 55 elections that we’ve had so far, so there’s no need to change it. However, it is a fact that Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, and New Jersey “have adopted popular vote legislation,” as stated in the same article. This shows that everyone isn’t happy with the way we elect people into office and the need for change has arisen. With the popular vote being used as the centerpiece for the Electoral College, all the voices of Americans can be heard when they decide who should be their leader. With the way the Electoral College is set up now, all the candidates have to do is win the states that are worth more electoral votes, so it doesn’t really matter who gets more total votes, which is already a reason why it should change. The new way will give the candidate’s completely fair chances in each state, with both getting College votes if they earned them, regardless of the entire state’s winner.
Next, it can be argued that the American people aren’t informed enough, or don’t care enough to make the right decisions as to who could be the best leader for them. For example, Donald Wittman’s article in The Encyclopedia of Public Choice, Pressure Groups and Uninformed Voters, touches on this to some degree. In the article’s section on how the election is modeled, Baron’s (1994), as well as Grossman and Helpman’s (1997) models of the election include a pressure group that provides the money for candidates’ advertising, in exchange for them making political moves. Due to these groups, the voters during elections become split into the uninformed who vote based on advertisements, and the informed voters who decide solely on policy. But, these uninformed voters are influenced due to the advertisements, so they cannot be blamed for being secretly drawn into making the choice of manipulators. Also, the Electoral College’s structure virtually negates the vote of the people, uninformed or not, because it all comes down to the person with the most Electoral College votes winning. So, voters thus have a reason not to care about their votes since the college can seemingly (or actually) drown out voters’ voices. If the newly proposed system is put into effect and the result will be more efficient. The popular vote is counted for one College vote in each district, then the senators themselves vote, fairly distributing every College vote, causing equality to spread amongst everyone, inspiring more people to vote since they can be reassured when they believe their vote counts. Also, the battleground states will become a thing of the past due to every College vote being decided either way rather than all to one side. As another result, the less populated, often ignored states will see more action and more new voices that were once on the sidelines will rise up. No state will be ignored like they would have been in the past because each district’s popular vote goes to the deserving candidate, eliminating the previous unfairness.
In addition, people argue that voters will vote for the wrong reasons even if they are informed. For example, Jasmine Thomas, in an SLA History class discussion, argued how people are voting for Obama just because of his ethnicity, regardless of whether they are knowledgeable on the issues. She said that many voters choose Obama for the fact that he is potentially the first U.S. president of African descent, so they vote for the wrong reason. However, the same thing can be said about McCain for voters who are opposed to Obama, so her argument doesn’t really hold together. It is said that the Electoral College weeds out uninformed and ill-informed people, making it the ideal election system. However, it also drowns out the cries for change presented by those who do vote for the right reasons. Also, the college’s bias exists towards states worth more Electoral College votes, because these states can bring about the outcome of elections that America may not have desired, regardless of which candidates actually receive more total votes. With more emphasis placed on the popular vote, the bias will be destroyed since every last College vote would be up for grabs.
In conclusion, the Electoral College should be reorganized with the popular vote having stronger influence by amending the 12 Amendment to the Constitution. The views that people have developed from its use, biases that the college presents, and people who the system shoots down are too influential when it comes to the situation of deciding our country’s leaders. That is why the election should be restricted to popular vote, so that millions of drowned out voices can be heard, and the people who truly deserve to lead America will acquire that privilege.
WORKS CITED
England, Trent. "Electoral College Shouldn't Change." The Peninsula Gateway 9/10/08 1. 16 Oct 2008 <http://www.gateline.com/108/story/2311.html>.
Whittman, Donald. "Pressure Groups and Uninformed Voters." The Encyclopedia of Public Choice, by Springer US 1/25/08 1. 16 Oct 2008 <http://resources.metapress.com/pdf-preview.axd?code=x2q08570985766r0&size=large>.
Thomas, Jasmine. "10/14/08 Discussion." Scinece Leadership Academy, History Course- Water Stream 10/14/08 16 Oct 2008