In Article two Section one of the Constitution, the provision establishing the Electoral College can be found.
What is the Electoral College and why is it supposedly needed?
Our Founding Fathers created the Electoral College system as a process to insulate the selection of the President from the whims of the public. The House of Representatives and the Senate are the groups that formally elect the next President. When you vote for a presidential candidate, you are really voting to instruct the electors from your state to cast their vote for the same candidate.
These delegates cast their votes after the popular vote is tallied up from their state.
The reason the United States Government says that the Electoral College is still in place today is quite simple. They state that if it was based on the popular vote, there would be no need for people in states like Wyoming, South Dakota and New Hampshire to even show up to vote as the election would be over after votes from Texas, California and New York were tabulated. Consequently, this makes many of us as U.S. citizens feel like our vote counts for nothing. Instead of voting for our next President we are actually voting for electors of our states to pick our next president for us.
"A popular election in this case is radically vicious. The ignorance of the people would put it in the power of some one set of men dispersed through the Union, and acting in concert, to delude them into any appointment." -- Delegate Gerry, July 25, 1787
"The extent of the country renders it impossible, that the people can have the requisite capacity to judge of the respective pretensions of the candidates." -- Delegate Mason, July 17, 1787
"The people are uninformed, and would be misled by a few designing men." -- Delegate Gerry, July 19, 1787.
Question: Is it right for us American citizens to vote to persuade the minds of our state’s delegates? On the other hand, should the popular vote by the citizens be the deciding factor in choosing our next President? Do you feel like your vote counts?
Brad: Personally, I feel that my vote doesn’t count as much as I wish it would. I do understand that these electors know more than the average citizen, when it comes to politics, but what’s the point in us voting to persuade somebody else? If they, supposedly, know more about the subject, how could a little vote like mine (an average citizen) change the mind of a delegate who is, allegedly, much more educated on the topic than I am?
Jessica: My opinion is we should not have the Electoral College votes. Many elections have been turned over because of the fact of the Electoral College votes. The election in 1888 with Benjamin Harrison and Grover Cleveland is a prime example. Harrison had 5,439,853 popular votes and won 233 electoral votes. Cleveland won the popular vote with 5,540,309 votes but only had 168 Electoral College votes. The Electoral College vote should not determine our next President. It’s not what the people really want, it’s the states. I feel as if my vote does not count because when it comes down to the Electoral College vote, it only matters what our House of Representatives and Senate wants. How do we know if they really voted for the President we want? They have the right to vote for whomever they want as their President, so why try persuading them? If they have to vote for the most popular candidate, where did their rights go?
Jonathon: On the topic of Electoral College votes I may not have much opinion. Though I believe that since I take time out of my schedule every four years (the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November), my vote should do more than just pick someone else to vote for me. Though it’s true that big populated states would take over less-populated states, it should matter more than just someone else’s vote. This is why I feel the Electoral College should be more the people than the representatives, who, as some might say, are just corrupt, and vote for who they do for the money they were paid. I do understand that not all are the same, but there are people who are corrupt, and bribes play a part in the power they hold.
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16 comments:
I'm torn with this. It's a complicated process -- that's for certain. I think the popular vote is vital as we are meant to be a democracy, but after the issues with errors in voting procedures (funny, how it's been in Florida), perhaps it's a good idea to have elected officials representing our votes. The problem lies with whether or not we can fully rely on their votes being actually "representative."
Is everyone voting this year?
I'm also torn because for the average person, it is beneficial to the majority (rule) to have an electoral college assuming that the people in general haven't learned what they should about the candidates. I think that having a representative actually place the vote balances out the ignorance of people who are voting just to vote. Yes it is your right to vote but it is also your right not to vote; this is the first year I'm old enough to vote in the presidential election and I'm not even sure if I'm voting because I'm still not impressed.. Has anyone read Seeing by Jose Saramago? If not, check it out, and see how the author foresees the effect of blank ballots..
I feel that we should eliminate the electoral vote. I feel that as a democracy our individual vote should count. This is our constitutional right, so why shouldn't it count. I am voting this year but I am still very undecided about which canidate I will vote for.
I feel that my vote doesn't count and maybe it shouldn't. To be honest, I don't know anything about the government. I don't know how it works and I know nothing about the electoral college. So should I even vote if I don't know anything about the issues?
I understand the point of the electoral college but it seems outdated. Choosing the president should be done using popular vote because when you choose the president, this is done using the voice of each person. However if you are two win FL, Tex , Ca, and a few other larger states then you are only selecting the president by a few states views.
I believe that the Electoral College should be abolished, since when this system was established there were no political parties and there was no nomination system. Under this system, there are some states with small populations who have huge amounts of clout versus the average American citizen. Ex: Wyoming has three electoral votes and only 506,529 citizens. Therefore, each electoral vote corresponds to only 168,843 people. These people have 3.23 times more clout than the average American. This does not seem democratic to me, and since the Electoral College was established in 1787, and has not been adressed since 1830, I feel that the system is obsolete and antiquated. If we had been using the popular vote in 2000, George W. Bush would not be president right now. This is a good enough reason for me.
I feel that the system could be revamped a bit. There is a need for the equaling of votes over the spectrum, as in New York is not 10 times higher in control as any small states.
However these votes should not "persuade" the officials but commit them to the will of their populations.
No, I don't feel that my personal vote counts as much as it should today. However, my or other voter's voices can be very influential. If I really wanted to, I could write or even call my congressmen and inform him of my feelings and what I feel his actions should be, thus giving my voice more power then one more number on a piece of paper! Plus, we all know that people (as a group) are naive and can easily be swayed by false information and catchy sayings ( which many of ya'll did say that you didn't know much about politics and the government) the electoral college is designed to protect us as citizens. However I don't fully agree with someone taking the authority away from my vote I would rather have that then our seemingly intelligent men and women voting into presidency "the next Hitler" because he has the "coolest" commercial.
And yes, I will be voting but for whom I'm still unsure!
I dont necessarily think that we should completely do away with the Electoral College.On the other hand, I think that we (Americans) should have more of a say so in the general election.Here is where I'm torn: if we were to do away with the electoral college, then we place the future of country in the hands of some voters who may not be best qualified to pick adequate leaders.Even now with the electoral college in place there are some registered voters who simply vote based on race,sexuality,appearance or even just because they are affiliated with that certain political party. I'm one of those people who thinks that no matter what changes in our government, there is always going to be corrupted people who will make a way for what they feel is right.Yes America is supposed to be a democracy but come on people we have to face reality,we are "the land of the free and home of the brave" but we are not a "perfect union".
I wish I could vote,but of course I just so happen to be too young by only like 1 month.SUCKS!
Alyssa, maybe right now you're you're unaware of the issues. Later on down the road, the issues will have more of an impact upon you than you realize!
As of now, how about college tuition? Health care? Job security?
I agree with Alyssa. The majority of the time I feel that my vote doesn't make a difference. The reality to the situation is that I don't believe that the electoral college represents the population. Truthfully, I don't trust them because at times I think the electoral college votes to their favoring (as long as it benefits them).
I believe that it is important to persuade our legislature to vote for and with us (the people). On the other hand I believe that when the Electoral College supersedes the people that it is impertinent, we the people should change something. As in the case with Bush and Al Gore, the electoral votes elected bush while the popular vote was for Gore. I think that the electoral vote is important, but it should be second to the popular vote. Yes, I am voting this year and I am undecided on the candidate.
I feel that my vote counts. The electoral college is ment to vote along with the popular vote. However we cannot know who voted what, only wich candidate won. Therefore the electoral college could vote against the popular vote and we will not know who is responsable and why they felt it was neccesary to go against the popular vote. The quotes say that the reason for this electoral college is the majority of the people are uninformed. In our modern time, one must only switch on the TV or go on the internet to find all sorts of information. I feel that as society has advanced to a day where the media is so prevalent the electoral college has become obsolete.
The electoral college... hmm. i'm kind of torn on this issue, but i believe it is helpful and should stay in affect because we need some kind of balance. There are people out there that just go vote because they can, not even knowing the candidates, or those who vote solely on the party they belong to not caring who is the best choice for the country. It's a means of checks and balances. Granted, we could have a better system in place. ( i'm not sure what, but..)
One thing I was wondering about..The representatives that make up the Electoral College have a right to vote, right? So regardless of our votes being used as a guiding force to allow the representatives to vote for the candidate chosen by the people are they more swayed to vote for the person they voted for? Or do they have to remain neutral and not vote at all? I doubt that because it's an infringement on their rights. I guess what I'm saying is that it seems the Electoral College is at high risk of corruption and after reading Jamie's post I'm finding that from the time I was torn just a few days ago until now her points make a lot of sense. An option to abolishing the Electoral College may be to reconstruct it instead, but why have this middle man exactly?
We should not being thinking that the "Big States" votes will outweigh the smaller states. The states do not vote, the people do. So we let people in New York vote their way, let people in Ohio vote their way, and let people in Alabama vote their way. And then we tally up the popular vote. We count the votes, and not worry who won what each state. Chances are the entire state will not vote for one candidate.
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