Medicine Lodge High School

Medicine Lodge, KS

Teachers: Devra D. Parker and Michael Hubka

 

 

Too Old?
By Laura Meier

12^th grade

 

 

            As election day nears, a young girl sits at her kitchen table reading the local newspaper.  She scans the [pages] of the paper looking for interesting information to no avail.  Slowly she lifts her coffee cup to her mouth and sips the dark, stiff coffee.  As she reaches her hand to her eyes, she stops.  She raises the page closer to her face to read the cartoon printed on the lower right hand corner.  It shows a picture of Uncle Sam, old and decrepit, crawling on his hands and knees through the desert to an enormous vat of water.  The vat bares the label “Direct Vote.”  Then she notices the intricately drawn tattoo on Sam’s feeble arm.  The tattoo reads, “Electoral College.”  The caption at the bottom of the page says, “Isn’t it about time to make decisions for ourselves?”  The true meaning of the cartoon slips into her sleepy mind.  Our electoral system does need a refreshment.

The Electoral College has been around for over 200 years. The Electoral College was invented in the 18^th century. When the Constitution was written our democracy was different than it is today. Travel was difficult, and there were no national party organizations; for these reasons the Framers of the Constitution felt that the Electoral College was better than a direct popular election.

            Some Americans are not sure if this is the best electoral system.  As we approach the 21^st century, we have different problems to deal with.  The Electoral College seems to no longer look like the wisest choice. Many Americans argue that this system is ill-suited for modern America.

            There have been some attempts to reform or even abolish the Electoral College system. In 1997 Congress debated on an amendment to replace the Electoral College with a direct popular vote election.  Unfortunately, this attempt failed to pass.

            The Electoral College system is unfair for several reasons. First, the Constitution does not bind presidential electors to vote for the candidates to whom they have been pledged. A president can be elected without winning the majority of the popular vote. This has happened 15 times in the United State's history.  This happened in 1992 and 1996 when Bill Clinton won only 43 and 49 percent of the popular vote. If no candidate receives more than 45 percent of the popular vote then there should be a national run off election. The 1990 census found that a candidate needs only to win eleven out of 50 of the most heavily populated states in order to take the presidency.  These states are California, Texas, Florida, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, and either Georgia or Virginia.

            Each state's votes are awarded on a winner-take-all basis. This makes it hard and even impossible for any third or independent party candidate to win any electoral votes. For example, if a candidate wins 54 out of 55 of the popular votes in California then he/she takes all of the electoral votes for that state. Then, if that candidate gets all of the votes he or she is one-fifth of the way to the 270 votes needed to become president.

            Not very many people believe in the direct vote system. James Wilson, Governor Morris, and James Madison were a few of our prominent forefathers who supported the direct vote system. The Electoral College should be abolished. It is unfair to the third party candidates as well as the United States' citizens. The direct election is the most representative system for the people. This is the only system that guarantees the President will have received the most popular votes. It would also increase voter turnout because people will feel like they have been given an equal role of helping elect the president. Since 1970, there have been many advancements in our great nation. With these advancements the need for reform to fix the laws and processes that have become outdated. It is time to eliminate the Electoral College and get our population involved in the government.

            Our government needs many drastic changes, but the first one that needs to occur is the Electoral College.  The method in which we choose out elected officials needs to change so that we can truly get our issues addressed in government.  This would eliminate third party discrimination.  People could vote for the candidates that they feel are right for the job instead of voting for one of the two candidates that have a chance to win.  Many corrupt policies in our electing system, such as state procedures like winner-take-all and guaranteed votes exist.  Votes should be counted evenly on the basis of the number of people that attend the poll instead of certain states having seven times the power of others.  All of these problems can be eliminated by going to a nationwide direct vote system instead of the Electoral College.

 

   Questions to be answered after the required reading has been completed:

 

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

 

The election of 1796 which resulted in the election of John Adams , a Federalist , as president, and Thomas Jefferson, a Republican , as vice president.

 

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

 

In 1808 the proposal to choose a President by lot.  It reoccurred unsuccessfully in 184 and 1846.  In 1816 the direct-vote plan was proposed and defeated.  In 1822 it was suggested that the president should be chosen by 4 religions on a rotating basis.  In 1826 an automatic plan was proposed whereby all of the states electoral votes would automatically be cast for the candidate who received the highest popular vote.  Also in 1848 The proportional plan which called for a division of each state's electoral college votes according to the popular vote received by each party was introduced.

 

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

 

James Garfield, John Quincy Adams, James Polk, Zachary Taylor, and James Buchanan were elected with less than the popular vote.

 

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

 

The winner-take-all system is a system whereby the majority of the popular vote in the state carry all of the electoral vote for the leading candidate.  All the stated except Maine use the winner-take-all system of electoral college.

 

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

 

Congress determines the time which the electors are selected and the day which they will vote, which is the same day throughout the United States.  That day has been set as the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December.

 

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

 

Using direct vote in an election would vastly increase the third party's chances.  The Third party gets a good perentage of the popular vote but often receive none of the electoral votes.  They also would receive votes from third party supporters that vote on another party so that they get some of their ideals spoken for in the government.

 

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

 

The direct vote system allows people to have more of a say in the election.  In the electoral college system you don't vote for the president you vote in someone who picks someone to vote for you.  You vote directly for the ideas that you believe in.  The winner take all system isn't in effect if you use the direct vote system.

In the Electoral College you get a much less percentage of incompetence.  In the Electoral College third party candidates are eliminated.  In the Electoral College the winner takes all system is in effect.  The voters in the electoral college the proper research to validate their vote.

 

 

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

 

In the proportional plan a small homogeneous state could carry more clout than a large diverse state.  Yet this doesn't satisfy any group.  The district plan goes further, It satisfies conservatives better and would encourage minor party candidates, giving them reassurance that they would have a chance for at least a few electoral votes.  Lastly, the winner-take-all plan unfairly favors the bigger candidates and almost eliminates the chance of a third party candidate.

 

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

 

The need for a quick decision and a clear cut winner.  Second, the Victor should be the people's choice winner of the most popular votes.  Third, the president-elect should have a mandate to govern, a legitimacy which comes from a good margin of victory, and lastly, the ideal system should not undermine the two-party system.

 

10.  Crisis is one of the greatest inspirations that a human being can face.  It can cause a person to stand strong and make instinctual decisions.  These impromptu decisions are what make or break our greatest leaders.  Franklin D. Roosevelt is one of our nations finest leaders, and the only president to be elected to more than 2 terms.  He led our country through the roughest time our country has ever seen, the Great Depression.