Kadoka
High School
Kadoka, South Dakota
Teacher: Teresa Shuck
The Election Process
By Mr. Clay Hindman
Grade 11
I have taken a stand on this nation election process. My stand is to leave it the way it is. Our forefather used this type of election process and it worked for them. I can not see why it will not keep working for us.
Why should we, the new generation, wreck something that has work for many years for this great country. It would be unconscionable to do so.
The election process will carry on like the years before but this time it will depend on what we decide to do now. If we change it; the price we pay will come back and haunt us in the future. Can we afford to pay this piece in later years? Change is not always for the better. Sometimes the old way works better then the new way. If we change the process we [as] voters, might not like it.
I say the Electoral College is just fine as...it is. It worked for over 200 years so why change? I would agree that it needs a little change, but it is pretty good as is. It is slowing down a little, but look at how many people we have in the United States. So [maybe] it should slow down a little [in order] to count the vote. As long as we get a president out of the deal, then it works for me.
Some of the things that happened in this year’s election could have been [avoided]. Maybe everyone should be to blame.... If there was a higher voter turn out and, if the press hadn’t called the election early, the results could have been close [and] it could have gone the other way. We will never know how it [might] have come out. History proves me right time and time again. So help me out and gives in to my words or you will end up like the folks down in Florida.
That was a big controversial issue [surrounding] the new older folk [who]did not punch their ballets hard enough and they were confused on how it was put together. ...If the Florida people would have been educated better than we would not have had a problem. If you don’t know what [you] are voting for, what is the point of voting? The popular vote is the one that needs the most work of anything in the Electoral College; so if we have to fix something, we might as well change that.... That is what I would do.
South Dakota gets along with this process O.K. It might be because we have a smaller population then [most] other states. I don’t know how we can go about fixing this. South Dakota will have to get bigger or the other states [will] have to get smaller; that is the only thing that comes to my mind on how to fix this problem. I would like to see South Dakota change. I just hope it is for the better for South Dakota and, not for the worst. The candidates [who]run [in] South Dakota need to get more coverage from the news in South Dakota. How are we suppose to know what is going on in our own state if they don’t cover it in the news. I say the press is the one to blame for this. History shows that it was a lot better with out TV. [Take] Roosevelt, as an [example]: he was in a wheel chair. Do you think the people of this country would have voted for him if they knew he was in a wheelchair? I think not and, I think he was one of the greatest presidents we every had, beside Lincoln.
It is hard to find a great president these days. It might be the times that make a great president, or it might be the people or just the president himself. Whatever it is, it is hard to come by. All the voters look for in a president any more is someone how is a smooth talker and, not for the things that make a leader great. Don’t get me wrong; there have been some smooth-talking-presidents that were great.
All I am saying [is] it will be different if we change things around.
It might be too different to like, o think
about the consequences. It will be for our own good and, the good for the people around
[us]. [Until others] figure out something
better; just go with the flow for now.
Singer Foundation Questions
1. How and when did the United States elect a president and vice president of different parties? Name them and their respective parties.
They elected John Adams, a Federalist, for president, and Thomas Jefferson, a Republican, as vice president.
2. Describe four ways that were suggested to elect the President between 1808 and 1846.
In 1808 the proposal to choose the president by lot first surfaced, but the problem reoccurred in 1844 and 1846. Originally the candidate to be chosen by lot were to come from retiring senators; in later proposals the states were each to elect a native son candidate. The first direct vote plan was proposed by senator Abner Lacock of Pennsylvania and was defeated 21 to 12. In 1820 the second faithless elector deprived James Monroe of a unanimous vote. In 1822 it was proposed that the president be chosen by four regions on a rotating basis. In 1826 Representative Charles Hanes introduced the electoral vote, but there was the popular vote to.
3. Name five U.S. Presidents who were elected with less than a popular vote.
John Adams, Zachary Taylor, Abe Lincoln, Harry Truman.
4. Describe the winner-take-all system. Which states use this system?
The winner take all system is an unfair system, and it is used in every state but Maine.
The winner-take-all system it is what it says the winner take it all. To the lose he get nothing.
5. When do the electors vote and when are the results known?
The day is set the 2nd Tuesday after the first Monday. It is known in January.
6. What effect would substituting a direct vote for the Electoral College have on third party candidates? Why?
Others say that Electoral College endangers the two party system and encourages third party strategy to win concessions from major candidates.
7. Give four arguments for and against a direct vote system. The arguments direct vote system would help the popular party, it would also give everyone a say, but it doesn’t help the none popular party, and the candidates that are not so popular may not receive enough votes.
8. Describe the differences between the district plan, the proportional plan and the winner-take-all plan.
The district plan lets one of the four regions choose the president. The proportional plan called for a division of each states electoral votes witch that may not work. The winner take the plan that two electors are chosen on a statewide popular level and one is chosen from two congressional districts.
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 clear cut winner, (2) the victor should be the peoples choice, and they should have the majority of the popular votes, (3) the President elect should have a mandate to govern a legitamacy 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 the following. Crisis really help presidential candidates, because it gives the candidates something to talk about. Crisis also help them because they can talk about how they would fix things, and how it would be so much better if they were President.