Rockridge High School

Taylor Ridge, Illinois

Teacher: Barbara Downey

   

Direct Election of Electoral College?
By Nicole Petersen
12^th grade 

 

 

          Al Gore or George W. Bush, who exactly is the president of the United States?  Some people of our country may not even know or even care after the very controversial 2000 Election.  Weeks after the November 7 election, George W. Bush was named as our nation’s president. After this election many people were left wondering whether an Electoral College was really needed, or if a direct election would be more what the people want.  This is a controversial issue that has left many people curious about what is the best.  Even though there are good points supporting a direct election and the Electoral College, a direct election would be the nation’s best bet.  A direct presidential election would reflect what the people of the United States want.

 

          Everybody in our country has the right to an opinion about what they believe would be the fairest and easiest way to hold an election.  If our country held direct elections, there would be a fewer number of recounts.  As shown in this election some of the grown men in our country just cannot accept when they lose.  Why would we want a man who cries about losing, running our country?  We would not; therefore a direct election would elect our President by the popular vote, the people’s choice.  Around election time I have heard many people say, “Why does it matter if I vote; it all depends on the Electoral College.  I have no say who our President is.”  I was in shock because our taxes are going to go up or something else will happen, and these people are going to be the ones complaining.  So therefore if a direct election were held, these people may possibly feel like their vote matters when electing the country’s leader, and they would probably vote.  The number of ballots cast would rise quite substantially each election year.  This way the electors would feel they are getting what they want.  Advocates of the direct election system believe it would ensure the candidate with the greatest popular vote would win the office of president.  It would give equal weight to every vote, would do away with the faithless elector problem, would reduce the chance of fraud, would encourage greater participation, and would place the election more fully into the hands of the people where it belongs.  So this obviously seems like the right thing to do.

 

          One major campaign reform issue in the 2000 Election was the Clean Money Campaign Reform.  This issue represents the most comprehensive and far-reaching approach to election finance.  This approach provides an alternative to our current system of spending largely special-interest money to finance campaigns. This system is completely voluntary and nobody is forced to participate.  The previous year this idea was tested out in Maine.  Here for the first time elected officials were sworn in without owing anything to campaign contributors.  The Executive Director of Public Campaign in Maine was very happy with how the system worked there.  He stated, “It cut campaign spending, reduced the role of big money, leveled the playing field, freed candidate time to talk to the voters, encouraged qualified people to run, and improved the debate.”  So people were obviously happy with the new system. 

                                                       

The Clean Money Campaign Reform would be the solution to many long fought problems.  Therefore, this reform should be passed as a law.  One major problem prior to every election is the money spent on campaigns.  The CMCR Solution provides constitutionally acceptable spending limits on the campaigns.  Another problem that occurs during elections is too much special-interest influence.  The solution to this is not allowing participating candidates to use the special-interest money.  During these hard fought campaigns, candidates and lawmakers spend too much time chasing money, instead of thinking about why they are really there, to make the people happy.  The CMCR Solution eliminates the need for fundraising.  Also, a problem in the elections is that good people do not have a fair chance to compete. This provides a financially level playing field for anyone who would like to run for president.  The last major problem is that there are way too many loopholes.  The proposed solution has a comprehensive package that will tighten the present loopholes.  This just proves that the Clean Money Campaign Reform should be passed as a law to help solve many of these unnecessary problems.

 

          Throughout the 2000 Presidential Election many issues came up.  I believe that if a direct election were held, more people would vote and there would be a much better voter turnout.  As shown, the clean money campaign reform would make elections more organized and less expensive.  I also believe that everybody in this would be a lot happier.  So in conclusion, a direct presidential election would reflect what the people of the United States want.

 

Sources

“Clean Money Campaign Reform.” Homepage: On-line. Internet. 15 Dec. 2000. wwww.publiccampaign.org/cleanmoney.html

“Press Release.” Homepage: On-line. Internet. 15 Dec. 2000.  www.publicampaign.org/press_releases/pr12_6_00.html/

 

Questions

 

1.     How and when did the United States elect a president and vice president of different parties?  Name them and their respective parties.

The candidate with the highest number of votes should be President and the candidate with the next highest number of votes should be Vice-President.  The President was John Adams who was a Federalist.  The Vice-President was Thomas Jefferson who was a Republican.

 

2.     Describe four ways that were suggested to elect the President between 1808 and 1846.

The four suggested ways were the district vote plan, automatic plan, proportional plan, and by lot.

 

3.     Name five U.S. Presidents who were elected with less than a popular vote.

Five of the presidents are John Quincy Adams, Zachary Taylor, Abraham Lincoln, Grover Cleveland, and John Kennedy.

 

4.     Describe the winner-take-all system.  Which states use this system?

All of the state’s votes would be automatically awarded to the ticket that carried that state’s popular vote.  Every state uses this system except Maine.

 

5.     When do electors vote and when are the results known?

The electors vote the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December.  The results are officially announced in January.

 

6.     What affect would substituting a direct popular vote for the Electoral College have on third party candidates?  Why?

They thought it would encourage minority parties because there would be a greater probability that two major parties would not receive a majority of the votes.

 

7.  Give four arguments for and against a direct vote system.

Four arguments for a direct election are 1) The candidate with the greatest popular vote would win the office of president.  2) It would give equal weight to every vote.  3) It would do away with the faithless elector problems.  4) It would reduce the chance of fraud.

Four arguments against a direct election are 1) It would make population more important than the actual voting.  2) It would give less voice to the poor non-voters.  3) A candidate could conceivably win on the votes of special interest.  4) It weakens the power of states and strengthens the national government.  State borders would be irrelevant in elections.

 

8.  Describe the differences between the district plan, the proportional plan, and the winner-take-all plan.

The district plan is where districts within the various states allocate electoral votes.

The proportional plan allows states to divide the electoral votes by the margin of victory by three candidates.  The winner-take-all system is used when the candidates with the most votes wins all the electoral votes.

 

9.  State the four points experts in 1969 agreed should be included in an ideal plan for electing U.S. Presidents.

1) The need for a quick decision and a clear-cut winner.

2) The victor should be the people's choice and the winner of the most popular votes.

3) The president elect should have a mandate to govern and a legitimacy to govern which comes from a good margin of victory.

4) the ideal system should not undermine the two-party system.

 

10.  Write a paragraph describing what is meant by "Crisis is Opportunity".

     I believe that crisis is opportunity.  I feel that when a crisis arises, it also brings the opportunity to make improvements.  This is the chance to make things better.  in order to make things good, bad things must happen.