Sirrine 1 Megan Sirrine POLS 1100 December 5, 2013 Persuasive Essay Since the first presidential election, the

Electoral College has been in use over the years, and while America votes every election year it is really the presidential electors that have the majority of the say when it comes to who will win the presidential election. The Electoral College is an extraordinarily complex system for electing a president, one that has the potential to undo peoples will at many points. (Edwards 150) But the question remains, is this way of voting fair to the American citizens and what should be done to change the voting system as well as the Electoral College? The most common solution to these problems is to abolish the Electoral College and institute a simple rule of awarding the presidency to the candidate who has a popular majority. (Bugh 65) Starting in 1789 Americans began using the Electoral College as part of their voting system. These select voters decide the fate of our country and have the majority vote when it comes down to who the President of the United States will be. This system is based on how many electoral votes the candidate receives rather than the number of popular votes that they are given. So if a candidate receives a less popular vote but still receives more electoral votes, then ultimately they are the winners of the race. This system has been, the object of persistent criticism and numerous reform plans. (Miller vii) The current system of voting has been very controversial in the eyes of many Americans because they dont necessarily agree with the rewards of this particular system. This process actually represents the most egregious violation of democratic principles in the American political system. (Edwards 55)

Sirrine 2 While the majority of the electoral votes have indeed been with popular vote there have been four exceptions in history that have had a negative effect on the citizens of the United States. These four exceptions have been negatively characterized by some as Electoral College Misfires. (Miller 2) And while four elections might not seem like a very significant number when you look at the other elections, how many more electoral votes gone wrong do we have to endure before it makes a dent in our society. The small number of these mistakes can potentially increase and multiply if they are not taken care of. For instance, if you had been extremely ill for several days, how many days are you willing to wait and see if it gets better before you see a physician, if you wait too long your sickness will get worse and you could infect others, but if you dont go at all then what happens when it is too late and you could have gotten better if you would have just tried sooner. Despite the fact that the electoral votes have over powered the popular votes so few times, A system that allows such a perceived miscarriage of the popular vote might have been acceptable in the nineteenth century, opponents of the current system maintain that it has no place in the twenty first century. (Miller 9) The alternative to the electoral voting system would be simple. Abolish the electoral system and have the votes be based on a direct popular election. It wouldnt be, a select group of Americans have elected the president, but rather America has voted and chosen who they wish to really be in office. Direct popular vote election would provide a single democratic choice, allowing the nations voters to choose directly the two highest ranking officials in the US government, the president and the vice president. (Miller 5) Another positive to just having direct popular vote would be that the winners of this vote would win the entire election and wouldnt have to worry or stress about a congress vote. All of the votes would be considered

Sirrine 3 equal and no vote by anyone would be worth more than the other. No state would be advantaged and no state would be disadvantaged. (Miller 5) For the past several years our country has lived by the motto that, All men (and women) are created equal. So why shouldnt our votes be considered the same? The popular view of politics, embraces citizens ruling more directly such as electing all public officials. (Bugh 6) If this happened, this would give American citizens a voice and an opportunity to help make the crucial decisions that we have to make in our society at this time. Robert Dahl, a democratic theorist said this, Every member must have an equal and effective opportunity to vote and all votes must be counted as equal. He later adds that, all members (of this country) are to be treated as if they were equally qualified to participate in this process of making decision. (Edwards 32) We are told that we live in the land of the free, the land of opportunity. While yes, we are given the right to vote, what is the point of having that right if it doesnt count for anything? Our freedoms and rights should not be taken away simply because the popular vote doesnt count. It should count and allow everyone to be considered equal. Now a lot of people may be concerned that because some states population arent as large as others that having a popular vote would be a problem because it wouldnt be fair. But in reality if you made the choice to rather go by popular vote for the entire nation, instead of state to state then that would really make things a lot easier. Direct election of the president would not diminish the role of state and local partiesThe Electoral College contributes little to maintaining the cohesion of American polity. (Edwards 151) After all when you put it into

Sirrine 4 perspective the President shouldnt just be trying to favor a specific state, that is what the governors are for. The President is responsible for America. In a survey done in 2012 in Princeton New Jersey, sixty three percent of Americans said that they would vote to abolish the Electoral College. That is approximately six out of ten people that agreed with this. While it isnt the entire American population that agrees with that statement, that is more than half who believe that the Electoral College needs to disappear and a new voting system needs to be incorporated. A wide variety of constitutional proposals to reform presidential election procedures have been introduced over time and fallen into two categories, (1) those that seek to eliminate the electoral system entirely and replace it with direct popular election; and (2) those that seek to repair the defects while preserving the existing system. (Miller 4) While we do live in a very free and blessed nation, and we are given more opportunities then other countries we still are given the right to receive and utilize all of those freedoms. Each change begins with just one step and by giving each and every adult in America a fair chance at having a say at who is the leader of our country this would create a ripple effect of change for the better across the country. Virtually no one is willing to defend the electoral colleges provisions for contingent elections of the president and the vice president. These provisions: blatantly violate political equality, directly disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of Americans, and have the potential to grossly misinterpret the wishes of the public. (Edwards 150) While change can be difficult it is crucial in order to bring happiness and freedom to this beautiful country which we live in. Our opportunities are endless and our chances are always

Sirrine 5 increasing. Just as a child progresses by taking its first step so can our country progress by taking life one step at a time. Works Cited: Bugh, Gary. Electoral College Reform: Challenges and Possibilities. Farnham, Surrey, England: Ashgate Pub., 2010 Edwards, George C. Why the Electoral College Is Bad for America. New Haven, CT: Yale UP, 2004 Miller, Robert T. The Electoral College: An Analysis. Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science, 2011