Every four years that a Presidential election comes to pass the Electoral College is responsible for the formal election of both the President and Vice President of the United States. As an example of an indirect election, where people in each state at large vote in order to decide which individuals will be delegated the responsibility of casting votes for President and Vice President in accordance with the popular vote of the state which has entrusted them to provide such representation, the Electoral College works to ensure that smaller states are not denied the right to have the equal power of influence in our national election for President (Neale, 2004). The Electoral College itself has been in existence since it was introduced …show more content…
This leverage directly effects the ways in which presidential candidates coordinate their campaigns in order to secure the electoral votes of states large enough to impact their electoral vote total. In order for a candidate to secure the presidency he or she must obtain a majority of the electoral votes which currently sits at 270. The three largest electoral vote states, California (55) and Texas (38) and Florida (31), while representing over one fifth of the total electoral votes available provide a window into the way in which politicians view some states versus others. For example, California has been a Democratic Party stronghold in the electoral college for the past two decades. Texas, a Republican Party stronghold for the greater part of three decades, represents the other side of that coin (Office of Federal Register, www.archives.gov) . Considering what seems an insurmountable task for say a Democrat to waltz into Texas and glide off with their 38 votes or a Republican to saunter into California and leave with its 55 it is no wonder politicians are forced to configure their campaigns to allocate millions of dollars in campaign resources to states where their campaigning efforts might matter. Florida, by way of their electoral college results in the proceeding two decades has been that very state. Since 1992 there have been five presidential elections with the Republicans winning 3 and the Democrats 2 (Office of Federal
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.
The electoral college in the Constitution has the purpose of electing the President with the cooperation of both Congress and the people. The process consists of citizens first selecting electors based on the quantity of delegates in each state, which then become known as the electoral college, and then compromise to elect the President as well as the Vice President. Although there have been controversies on candidates not winning the election when they have received the popular vote, the electoral college provides equality among the small states as well as checks and sets boundaries towards the preferences of the majority. Not only is balance emplaced, but delegates are also elected with the incorporation of knowledge in the government rather than interest.
The Electoral College is the system used in America to nominate the president and vice president. The Electoral College entails Voters to go to the polls and they will be choosing which candidate receives their state 's electors. The candidate who receives a majority of electoral votes which is 270 wins the Presidency. The number 538 is the sum of the nation 's 435 Representatives, 100 Senators, and 3 electors given to the District of Columbia. There are many reasons as to why the system has not been reformed and in this essay I will elaborate on this further.
When the Constitutional Convention gathered in 1784 they had the difficult task of determining how our government should be assembled and what systems we should use to elect them. They quickly decided congress should have the powers to pass laws and the people should elect these people to ensure they are following the will of the people. But who should elect the president?
In my opinion the Electoral College is very misunderstood. The Electoral College is a group of officials who elect the president every four years. It is the indirect method of elections. Many people think that they would be voting directly for a presidential candidate when voting, but it is not that simple.
Recognizing the strong regional interests and loyalties which have played so great a role in American history, the Electoral College system contributes to the cohesiveness of the country be requiring a distribution of popular support to be elected president. Without such a mechanism, the president would be selected either through the domination of one populous region over the others or through the domination of large metropolitan areas over the rural ones. Indeed, it is principally because of the Electoral College that presidential nominees are inclined to select vice presidential running mates from a region other than their own. For as things stand now, no one region contains the absolute majority (270) of electoral votes required to elect a president. Thus, there is an incentive for presidential candidates to pull together
The founding fathers established the Electoral College in the constitution as a compromise in the election of the president by voting in congress and electing the president by popular vote of citizens who are qualified. Existing for a long time by Article Two of the United States Constitution in the result of United States presidential election system to hand-pick the President of the United States and Vice President of the United States. The people of the United States get to vote in each state at a widespread election to choose a list of electors pledged to vote for a party’s candidate. Each states is entitled to their assigned number of electors which equal the number of members in its congressional delegation. This is, for each house of
The electoral college is a system designed more than 200 years ago, in a vastly different political, economic, and social landscape, that has somehow managed to remain in use in the United States complete unchanged for so long a period of time. To understand the Electoral College, one must first understand where it came from; in the earliest days of America democracy as radical as exists in America today was neither the intention nor the norm for American politics. Instead, the electoral college was put in place so that a small group of faceless party officials could overturn the will of the people in the case that mob rule ran amok, and this group of people felt strongly enough about the
As with many processes in the government the Electoral College has continued to evolve. Therefore, the Electoral College operates differently today than in the past. Originally, State Legislators chose the electors this has to be amended due the introduction of politically parties in 1836. (Presidential Elections, 1789-1996, 1997). Due to the “Time, Place and Manner Clause” states are allowed to chose the method in which electors are chosen, so due to this before 1836 some states used Winner-takes-all and some didn’t. (Peacock, 2017). Instead of the vice president winning in conjunction with the president, the vice president was chosen whichever candidate got the second most electoral votes. This was updated also because of political parties
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.
Choosing the President of the United States is a huge event not only in America but all over the world as well. The whole world wants to see who will be the next Chief in Command of the most powerful nation in the universe. The Electoral College is the process use to determine who will be the next President and Vice- President of the United States of America. This process is not embraced by every citizen others prefer the popular vote process, creating a division between citizens.
The Electoral College has been a source of controversy for the American voter since its creation. Some voters favor keeping the Electoral College while others would prefer alternative methods of electing our president. There are many opinions about the Electoral College but its foundation, structure, history, and function remain a mystery to most voters.
The Electoral College is a form of process that consists of the electors’ selection. It is the meeting of the electors in which they will conduct the selection of the President and the Vice President. The process also involves the electoral votes counting by Congress. The founding fathers of the Electoral College had established it within the Constitution as the compromise between the President’s election by the vote within Congress as well as the election of the President based on the common vote of eligible citizens. The establishment of the process both has some advantages and disadvantages.
When Americans vote for president, they are actually voting for presidential electors, who are known as a whole to be the electoral college. These electors, who are elected by citizens of the United States, are the ones that elect the chief executive. The electoral college has shaped the past, present, and future of the United States ever since it was constructed by the Constitutional Convention of 1787. The electoral college was created with fair and good intentions.
America, land of the free and where every vote matters, but does it? The popular vote in america hasn't always mattered and may never matter when the electoral college holds the final poll for presidency. bush was one president who didn't have the popular vote at all, yet he still became president. Does the popular vote matter and should we fix this issue? In reality americans votes don't matter because the electoral college has final say in the presidential election.