While electing a new U.S
president they say that your vote counts. You go in on the first Tuesday after
the first Monday in November and cast your presidential vote. But in actuality,
your vote doesn’t really count, as least if you are not a part of the Electoral
College. The institution that actually decides the next U.S president.
The Electoral College was
established at the same time as the U.S Constitutional Convention in 1787,
which was devised as a compromise for the less populated states and give them a
fair hand during election. After the U.S population elects a president based
off popular vote, it is the job of the Electoral College to make the final
decision. Today there are 538 electors in the U.S Electoral College and the
candidate that gets the majority votes of 270 will become the next president.
Even though we are part of a democratic system, where it is the right of the
people to choose, why does this not seem right?
The Electoral College has
been a controversial issue, explaining that it does not represent a democracy. As
seen in the election of George W. Bush’s second term, it was the public who
chose Al Gore as the next president but yet it was Bush who stepped in to
office in 2004.[1]
Even though when the constitution was first created it was thought to be a good
idea, make the democratic system fairer. But now in today’s modern lifestyles,
the Electoral College has become a problem, it is not democracy.
This process that takes
place every four years to elect another president only takes away the right of
the people and sadly people have come to terms with it. During election time it
has become a trend where people don’t feel the need to vote anymore because
they think their vote does not count. Even if a person votes, in the end they
have no say or power in who becomes the next president. I believe the Electoral
College is taking away our right to vote, we actually don’t have the choice.
Our vote does not count.
The Electoral College was not a compromise between less and more populated states. Instead, it was a mechanism by which the Southern states with substantial slave populations retained political control.
ReplyDeleteWhile abolishing the Electoral College sounds like a good idea, it is fraught with the peril of unintended consequences. For starters, candidates would see no reason to campaign in rural areas, and would instead pander their platforms to please the heavily-populated urban centers.
Here's a great video from 2012 with further discussion on why the Electoral College exists:
ReplyDeletehttp://l.prageru.com/2fXaHVw