Concordia High School
Concordia, Kansas
Teacher: Timothy Berger
Electoral College
By Zach Stover
12th grade
The Electoral College has been a hot topic to debate for many years. There are firm supporters of both sides, and
sometimes it is difficult to choose whether the Electoral College should stay in use or
not. Some advocate switching to direct vote,
some a proportional plan, and yet others have different means of solving this complex
problem. Arguably, the best way to solve the
problems that come with the Electoral College is to do away with it and install a direct
vote system. In order to make a decision
about this problem, there are three things to consider:
How the electoral college works, how the direct vote system works, and why direct
vote is more representative of the people.
By definition, the Electoral College is the collective name for a group of electors, nominated by political parties within the states and popularly elected, who meet to vote for the two offices of president and vice-president. The electors meet to vote on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December.1 The way electoral votes are awarded goes by a winner-take-all system. This means that if a candidate wins the majority in a state, the candidate wins all of the electoral votes, regardless of how slim the margin.2 Many times a candidate has won the election without winning the popular vote, such presidents as John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, and John F. Kennedy.1 There are many opponents of the electoral college system, most of whom would better like a direct vote.
The direct vote system works by taking the total number of votes
throughout the entire nation for each candidate, and whichever candidate has the most
votes wins the presidency. Most advocates
feel this would be a better representation of the people’s desire. It would also discourage candidates from
campaigning in one big state because of the number of electoral votes that state has. On the other hand, most advocates of the direct
election also know that it would be very difficult to get it amended to the Constitution. The amount of money and manpower it would take to
get the amendment passed through congress would be staggering.1
There are many pros and cons to each side of the debate over the election, but the direct vote system has, by far, more pros than cons. “I consider the so-called Electoral College a brilliant 18th-century device that cleverly solved a cluster of 18th-century problems”, says law professor Akhil Amar.2 A direct vote would be more fair to the needs and wants of the people, since the majority vote winner would always win the presidency. “A president can be elected to office even if it is not what the people want.”3 The winner-take-all part of the electoral college does not provide a fair representation of the people in each state. A candidate may only win the state by a percentage of the vote, but he still gets all of the electoral votes from that state. It is very clear that almost half of the people in that state did not want him to be president, but in the electoral college, it is made to look like the entire state voted for him. Finally, even though it is very rare, the election is far more likely to be tied with the electoral college system than in a direct vote system.
Another election issue that needs to be discussed and possibly reformed is campaign finance. Every election year, there are enormous amounts of money spent on campaigning, and most of it is soft money. Soft money is money donated to a campaign fund from a corporation or individual.4 Soft money donations are given in such huge amounts, from 50,000 dollars or above, that the donors expect to receive something in return.5 Many different rewards are given to soft money contributors, but the most common ones are tax breaks, subsidies, and other policies that hurt taxpayers.4 The only way to keep elections fair and honest is to ban soft money contributions. This would make elections more fair, and also help average consumers and taxpayers.
In conclusion, it would be in the best interest of the country, and democracy, to do away with the Electoral College and put the direct vote system into effect. It would be a more accurate representation of the people’s choice, as well as easier during the actual Election Day. This year, the presidential race was so close because of one state’s electoral votes. The entire country did not know which candidate won until a few days later. This problem could have been averted by using a direct vote system. The popular vote is a better way to decide the leader of the free world than the Electoral College.
Works Cited
1 “The American Presidency”, http://gi.grolier.com/presidents/ea/side/elecollg.htm Grolier Incorporated, 2000.
2 “Time to Reform the ElectoralCollege?” www.policy.com/news/dbriefarc770aspPolicy.com 2000
3 “The Electoral College: Then, Now, and Tomorrow” www.wikman.com/eric/electoralcollege.html Eric Wikman, 2000
4 “Soft Money=Special Access, The Crown Jewel of a Corrupt System” www.citizen.org/congress/reform/soft1pg.htm Public Citizen
5 “Soft Money”, www.campaignfinancesite.org/proposals/softmoney1.html Public Policy Inquiry, 2000
Questions
1.
How and when did the United States
elect a president and vice president of different parties? Name them and their respective
parties.
In the election of 1796, John Adams was elected president and Thomas Jefferson was elected vice-president. John Adams was a Federalist and Thomas Jefferson was a Republican. This happened because the candidate with the highest number of votes was elected president, and the runner-up was vice-president.
2.
Describe four ways that were
suggested to elect the President between 1808 and 1846.
By lot, in which the candidates were chosen by retiring senators. Direct vote, in which only the popular vote matters and no electoral college is used. Automatic plan, in which all of a state’s electoral votes would be cast for the candidate who got the highest popular vote. The proportional plan calls for a division of each state’s electoral votes according to the popular vote.
3.
Name five U.S. Presidents who were
elected with less than the popular votes.
John Quincy Adams, Zachary Taylor, Richard Nixon, Harry Truman, Grover Cleveland.
4.
Describe the winner-take-all system. Which states use this system?
If a candidate wins the popular vote in a state, that candidate receives all of the electoral votes of that state. This system is used in every state except Maine.
5.
When do electors vote and when are
the results known?
The electors vote on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December. The results are known in January.
6.
What affect would substituting a
direct popular vote for the Electoral College have on a third party candidates? Why?
A direct popular vote would help the consideration of many third party candidates. The electoral college requires them to win entire states to gain votes, while under a direct vote system, small numbers of votes in every state would count for them.
7.
Give four arguments for and against a
direct vote system.
A direct vote system would ensure that the most popular candidate won the election, it would get rid of the faithless elector problem, reduce the chance of fraud, and place the results in the hands of the people. It could also undermine the presidency, hurt the two-party system by encouraging minority parties, make voting more important than population, and a candidate could win on the votes of only special interest groups.
8.
Describe the differences between the
district plan, the proportional plan and the winner-take-all plan.
The district plan involves that the electoral votes be allocated by districts within the states. The proportional plan states that a candidate will receive the proportion of a state’s electoral votes based on the proportion of the popular vote that candidate received. The winner-take-all plan says that the candidate who wins the popular vote in a state receives all of that states electoral votes.
9.
State the four points experts in 1969
agreed should be included in an ideal plan for electing U.S. Presidents.
A quick decision and a clear-cut winner, the victor should be the winner of the popular vote, the president-elect should have a mandate to govern, a legitimacy which comes from a good margin of victory, and the ideal system should not undermine the two party system.
10. Write a paragraph describing what is meant by one of
the following: Crisis is opportunity.
Many people would say that they would not like to be president of any
government or organization during a crisis. These
people may be missing out, however. Many of
this nation’s greatest leaders were president during some kind of crisis. Abraham Lincoln had the Civil War, FDR had the
Great Depression and World War II. These two
men are remembered as a couple of
the best presidents ever. Crisis is a
great opportunity for leaders to show their leadership and political skills and to be
remembered as a great person. Crisis can
bring out the best in leaders, and it often serves as a springboard to greatness in our
presidents.