Miller_Electoral College Essay
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Electoral College Essay
Kelly Miller
Grand Canyon University – College of Education
POS-301: Arizona and Federal Government
Peter Doas
January 28, 2024
Electoral College Essay
The Electoral College is a system in which the United States of America elects the President. An early version of the process was included in the ratification of the Constitution on January 9
th
, 1788 in Article II, Section 1, Clause 3 and it has gone through some changes since. The original intention of the Founding Fathers was to create a process that would ensure that the tyranny of the majority, otherwise known as mob rule or direct democracy, would not develop a stranglehold on who is elected President. James Wilson made the first motion for the elector system after the idea of Congress choosing the President was rejected in fear that it would not honor the separation of powers in government. Their system has ensured that states with smaller populations have as equitable a say in the election as possible compared to what they could have in a popular voting system.
In the Electoral College, each state in the Union appoints a certain number of electors, determined by that state’s Congressional delegation. This number includes the number of the members of the House of Representatives plus two Senators. Each state selects its electors based on their own state laws and after the popular vote, they present Congress their vote for the candidate that received the most votes in their respective states. Currently, there are 538 electors and out of those, a majority of 270 or more votes is required to elect a President. “In total, the Electoral College comprises 538 members. A presidential candidate must win a majority of the electoral votes cast to win — at least 270 if all 538 electors vote.” (Lau, 2021)
There is widespread debate about the use of the Electoral College system versus the popular vote. Opponents of it list the idea that the elector system creates an all-or-nothing system
in which votes for states that align with the same party every election, are essentially useless. There are some who argue that restructuring local elections from popular votes to elector systems
would mitigate this side effect of the Electoral College. As seen in the 2000 Presidential election,
George W Bush barely won the presidency with only 1 electoral vote over the minimum required. It is one of only 5 times in which the candidate who won President via electoral votes, also lost the popular vote. In the 2000 election, the vote came down to Florida’s elector votes and
Bush won by a close margin of only 537 votes. It was such a close election that state law required a recount and months of legal back and forth between the candidates. It was so controversial that the Supreme Court had to make a decision in Bush v. Gore which also resulted in a very close decision by them, 5 to 4 in favor of Bush. The 2016 election is also often cited as a reason to dismantle the Electoral College. Donald Trump defeated Hilary Clinton with a substantial margin of 304 electoral votes to her 227 but Trump lost the popular vote by almost 3 million.
While a hot topic, these elections do not tend to present a strong case to get rid of the College. For this country’s entire history of Presidential elections, there have only been 5 times where the President lost the popular vote. This doesn’t present an alarming trend in usurping the power of individual votes. Even if this trend presented at a national scale, the Electoral College system still reflects the vision of the founders of the nation and still carries out their initial intention of limiting centralized power in the election system for Presidential candidates. If anything, the 2000 and 2016 elections show that the Electoral College still performs its functions. The concept of “the will of the people,” direct democracy, or popular voting are not representative of a Constitutional Republic which the United States is based on and was founded on. A direct democracy has been in practice in California and according to Michael Vargas, it has
failed the state. Other experts seem to weigh in and agree that popular votes should not determine leadership because it results in what some call tyranny of the masses. 51% of people
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would dictate all of the elections down to mayors and governors which would grant that majority
full control over policies and laws which affect millions. That would mean that 49% of the US’s 335,893,238 citizens would have little to no say in the running of government. Disenfranchising 167 million people to satisfy 168 million people seems like it would cause a wide array of problems in the country as a whole including extreme polarization and resentment. The dangers of the Electoral College seem to have outweighed the risks for 236 years.
The United States still uses the Electoral College for the same reason it has used it since the day it was written into the Constitution. The elector system ensures that states with smaller populations are not drowned out by the largest states in the Union. While the system may cause animosity by seemingly granting these smaller states a larger voice, the trending belief is that these states need a larger voice. The minimum elector aspect of the College is one of the reasons opponents of it cite as unfair and call for it to be dismantled. While it may seem archaic and even
confusing to some, the underlying reasoning behind the Electoral College is simpler than the intricate details of government. It goes back to the concept that popularity doesn’t necessarily, or hardly ever, translate to the best option. Popularity never results in equitable representation of the
49%.
References
Lau, T. (2021, February 17). The Electoral College, Explained | Brennan Center for Justice
. Www.brennancenter.org. https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/electoral-college-explained
National Archives. (2019, May 20). The Electoral College
. National Archives; National Archives. https://www.archives.gov/electoral-college
Vargas, M. (2021, May 13). Vargas: California’s experiment with direct democracy has failed
. San José Spotlight. https://sanjosespotlight.com/vargas-californias-experiment-with-
direct-democracy-has-failed/