Saratoga, California
An Analysis on the Current
Election Process in the
United States of America
By William Denq
11th grade
In addressing the current status quo, I believe that it is not effective and the winning candidates do not represent the popular vote. To change the current status quo, I propose the following bill addressing the issues of the election process of the direct vote versus the Electoral College and the media’s role in choosing and presenting candidates.
The current status quo is ineffective as well as unrepresentative of the popular vote. The Electoral College is biased towards the two-party system in that whichever candidate wins a state by more than half will win the entire state. By winning the entire state, the candidate will effectively wipe out any other minority groups. This does not represent the popular vote because not all of the public voted for the candidate that won the state’s electoral votes. The Electoral College is an archaic system in that it was created so that the general public did not pick an unqualified president. If we continue to use this system, the public might see it as an elitist type of association that controls which candidate gets voted into office. However, now that the literacy rate in the United States is at 97%, the general public is educated and informed enough to choose a President without an Electoral College. If we continue to use this system, the public might see it as an elitist type of association that controls which candidate gets voted into office. Because the Electoral College has been implemented into our election process for so long and therefore hard to get rid of, I propose the following plan to deal with this issue.
The current status quo can be changed and directed towards a better America. I would propose a bill in which the number of electoral votes depends on the percentage a candidate wins a state by instead of winner takes all. The only part of the Electoral College would exist in the form of electoral votes. There are many advantages to my plan and it would be beneficial and strengthen our country’s political system. Because there are no electors that are selected to vote in the Electoral College, the process would take a shorter time. Right now, with the status quo, the process of electing a president has to go through two ballots, the ballots of the popular vote and the ballots of the electors. With my plan, there would only be the ballots of the popular vote and those votes would be automatically turned into elector votes by percentage. Not only would the government save time, but also money. This new process also represents the views of the general public because it is more equal than that of the winner-take-all plan. Basically, this plan is a combination of the direct vote and the electoral votes.
Although
the media tries not to be biased, editors, producers, and directors of
magazines, news shows, and movies cannot help stating their own point of view on
upcoming elections. Even if a newspaper is slightly biased, the reader might be
influenced by it instead of using his or her own judgment. The masses are
greatly induced by TV because it is part of their everyday lives. Those who own
televisions will slowly develop their ideas about presidential candidates based
on the shows they watch. Newspapers can also be paid by candidates to be
slightly biased or advertise a certain candidate and not advertise the other.
Although newspapers are allowed to do this, they should not accept these
“bribes” because it would create an unfair bias to whoever has more money.
Eventually, presidential races will be completely based on one’s wealth. In
order to prevent this from happening, I propose the following plan.
My proposal would ensure that the media does not unfairly influence campaigns.
The current status quo can be changed to a better media environment in the
United States with my
plan. My bill will stop the media from biasing one candidate from another in
advertisements and articles. It will require the media to equally represent each
candidate in order to have the advertisements or articles written. Websites will
be allowed to support a particular candidate but general media tools such as
newspapers and magazines will not be allowed to be biased in their report of the
campaigns. Everything that they report must be factual evidence. Harsh penalties
will be enacted for those who lie on factual media such as TV news, newspapers,
and magazines. Those who lie on factual media will be fined up to $100,000 and
20 years in jail. By lying, one can create chaos or propagandize something
completely false. Although this plan will not affect those that exaggerate on
factual media, it is a good start towards a better America.
If this bill is enacted, I assure you ladies and gentlemen of the Congress, the United States will have a bright future ahead. This bill gives the equality of the popular vote that the general public desires. The opportunity to be equal in this country is one of the foremost standards that our government has always sought to maintain. We cannot let this possibility slide away from us and we must live up to the standards that our founding fathers have set.
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