Kadoka High School
Kadoka, South Dakota
Teacher: Teresa Shuck
The Election Process
By Tanner Jobgen
Grade 11
The Electoral College is an issue that has caused a lot of commotion lately. With the recent controversial presidential election people have been questioning our Electoral College system. Some have suggested throwing out the college and going by popular vote.
Our four fathers devised the Electoral College in 1787. Even then they didn’t want to go by the popular vote. The way this system works is that each state is awarded a number of votes. Like SD has three votes. The number of Representatives and Senators determines the number of votes each state receives. This way small state has more say in the elections. It also forces the candidates to campaign more.
The main reason we have the Electoral College is for the small states. This way the issues of the small states will get addressed. Candidates will be forced to pay more attention to the smaller states. Also they will have to do some campaigning there. If there were no Electoral College they probably would touch on any of the issues concerning the small states. They surely wouldn’t bother to come out here.
If there were no Electoral College, states like California would rule the election; they would make states like South Dakota useless. This statement would be true in nearly all cases of elections. Except when there is an election like the one this year. The one this year Al Gore won the popular vote and George Bush won the Electoral College. So this means that George Bush was elected the winner.
Also I feel it would be wrong for us to tamper with the Constitution. Our forefathers devised it for a reason. This was to give everybody equal opportunity in the election process. We shouldn't be going and changing that just because Al Gore didn’t get elected. I mean it's just the Democrats who are trying to [get] things changed. You don’t hear the Republicans crying about the process that has been around for so long. Secondly it isn’t like this is the first time one candidate won the popular vote and one won the electoral vote.
There is one thing that I think should be changed about the Electoral College; it is just one small thing too. That is instead of having the electors vote for the state it should just be whichever candidate wins the state gets the entire electoral vote available in that state. That would be the most reasonable way to do it. Instead of having the slim chance of an elector voting against the state.
Another of the most significant reasons we have the college is so the candidates campaign all over the country. This way they will not skip over the small states. If [wee did away with the Electoral College}the candidates would just go to the big states and the small ones would be left out.
Well, I hope you have seen the best of both sides in this issue. It should be an important issue to you. We need to keep the Electoral College around; it is the most fair and effective way to elect a President.
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 1796, the United States elected John Adams, a Federalist, as president and Thomas Jefferson, a Republican, as vice president. This happened because the ballots didn’t say if the candidate was running for vice president or president, therefore the candidate with the most votes became the president and the candidate with the second most votes became vice president.
2. Describe four ways that were suggested to elect the President between 1808 and 1846.
In 1808 it was suggested that the president be elected by lot. In 1816, the first direct vote plan was proposed to the constitution by Senator Abner Lacock, but was later defeated 21 to 12. this was disregarded because of the election of 1820 when John Quincy Adams was elected by one senator who gave him his electoral vote. Representative Charles Haynes of Georgia introduced the automatic plan for the first time in 1826. in this proposal the president elect that won the popular vote in the state would receive all of the electoral votes in the winner-take-all system. Representative William Lawrence of New York devised the plan, in 1848 that would divide the electoral vote according to the popularity among the parties.
3. Name five U.S. Presidents who were elected with less than a popular vote.
1824 John Quincy Adams 37 percent
1844 James Polk 49.6 percent
1848 Zachary Taylor 47.3 percent
1856 James Buchanan 45.6 percent
1860 Abraham Lincoln 39.8 percent
4. Describe the winner-take-all system. Which states use this system?
In this system all of a state’s electoral votes are given to the candidate that receives the most popular votes. Some people do not agree with this system because too much authority is given to only maybe a few popular votes and the other popular votes are disregarded making them void. This system is used in every state but Maine.
5. Why do electors vote and when are the results known?
They meet to elect on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, and January, after the votes are counted in both houses.
6. What affect would substituting a direct popular vote for the Electoral College have on
third party candidates? Why?
Substituting direct vote lets a third party candidate receive at least a few of the electoral votes that he or she may not have received if it were strictly a direct popular vote. The electoral votes would then be distributed evenly among candidates according to the popular vote instead of winner-take-all.
7. Give four arguments for and against a direct vote system.
FOR
1. This would allow a third party candidate to receive a percentage of the electoral votes instead of none.
2. This would be a truer representation of the people’s choice on a close election.
3. The electoral plan becomes outdated frequently with a changing population and therefore might not accurately represent a state’s choice.
4. This would give a third candidate a chance to get at least a few electoral votes.
AGAINST
1. The system of the Electoral College has proven itself efficient many times.
2. The Electoral College represents well the population’s opinion because it is based on the states population therefore states with greater population are given more power than the smaller states.
3. The electoral vote system was established by the founding fathers and has remained stable for many years.
4. The Electoral College is a quick way to determine a winner based on the majority vote.
1. Describe the difference between the district plan, the proportional plan and the winner-take-all plan.
The district plan is a system where the electoral votes are divided among districts and are divided according to population. The electoral votes in those districts are given to the winner and tallied in the nations total. The proportional plan is a system in which the states divide their Electoral votes according to the percentage of the popular vote. The winner-take-all plan is a system in which the states give the candidates receiving the most popular votes all of their electoral votes.
2. State the four points experts in 1969 agreed should be included in an ideal plan for electing U.S. President.
1. The need for a quick decision and clear-cut winner.
2. The victor should be the people’s choice winner of the most popular votes.
3. The president elect should have a mandate to govern, a legitimacy, which comes from a good margin of victory.
4. The ideal system should not undermine the two-party system.
3. Write a paragraph describing what is meant by one of the following: Crisis is opportunity.
During a crisis a man’s self worth is determined. If a man breaks under pressure then he is a weak individual. This nation was not founded on weak men. The men and women responsible for this great nation were strong, confident men and women who were not afraid to sacrifice for the price of freedom. That is why America is such a great powerful nation.