Newell-Fonda
High School
Newell,
Iowa
Teacher:
Connie Doonan
Sticking
With the Electoral College
By Charla Peiffer
12th grade
Sticking
With the Electoral College?
Does the Electoral College really work? That is the question many Americans asked themselves after the 2000 election. Many people were wondering if it was time for a change. The Electoral College has been used for two hundred and thirteen years, and so far it has worked. The American people need to keep a system that has worked for many years and is fair to everybody instead of switching to a direct vote, and they also need to look at how the campaign is financed.
Some people believe that the United States needs to switch over to a direct vote. With the direct vote system, the candidate who gets the most popular votes wins. People believe this system would be better because then the people would have the candidate that the majority of the people voted for. People who want the direct vote system were mad in the 2000 election because Al Gore won the popular vote, but George W. Bush won the electoral vote which gave him the president position. The direct vote would encourage third party candidates and give them a chance to gain electoral votes. This system would take away from the United States’ two-party democracy. Which in 1969 Congress said that the right system wouldn’t threaten our two-party democracy. With the direct vote the minority would lose their vote.
The Electoral College was founded in 1787 by the Founding Fathers in Philadelphia.
In the beginning the candidate with the most votes got the president position and the
candidate with the next highest votes got the vice president position. But then the
election of 1796 resulted in a Federalist getting the president and a Republican getting
vice president. So then in 1804 Congress passed the 12th Amendment, which
mandates that electors vote separately for president and vice president. Today in order
for a candidate to be declared president they have to have two hundred seventy electoral
votes. With the Electoral College every state gets the chance to be heard. If the United
States went with a direct vote then states such as California, Texas and other states on
the coast would elect the president, and the Midwest states would get overlooked. The
Midwest would get overlooked because they don’t have that much population for the
candidates to care about them. Also with the Electoral College everybody is heard, and
it’s a fair way to include the whole United States. Everybody is equal and all
citizens of the United States, so therefor they all are able the have their vote count
just as much as anybody else.
In the 2000 election one reform that was a big issue was the campaign finance
reform. The cost of campaigns of political offices and the financing of these campaigns
give disproportional influence to individuals who are wealthy and to special interest
groups. The average American citizen is at a huge disadvantage because it has led to low
levels of voter participation and low confidence in their government. If they do not
change the financing of political campaigns, the future of America democracy is in
jeopardy. Fewer people will have access to political power because the wealthy will have
the large amount of money that is needed to run for office. This will lead to the
government losing support of the citizens of this country. If the United States did not
have such campaign reforms such as clean money reforms, which provide public financing of
elections, the future of public policies that help support social and economic justices
are really low. Two bills called “Clean Money and Clean Elections” are being
introduced in the Senate by Paul Wellstone and John Kerry and in the House of
Representatives by John Tierney. These bills will provide for voluntary public financing
of national campaigns somewhat like the provisions of the state.
If the people of the United States would just stick with the Electoral College, the
United States will continue to have success when choosing the right president. The
Electoral College lets everyone know that his or her vote counts, and it lets every state
be equal to each other. But if the United States went with the direct vote many people
would be losing their voice in the future elections, and third party candidates would be
encouraged to run and get electoral votes. If financing for politcal campaigns continues
the way it does now it will led to lower levels of voter participation. Yes, the Electoral
College really does work; it has worked for two hundred thirteen years, and it is going to
continue to work to help ensure that the American people will be led by someone who is
willing to lead the country through hard times and also in the stable times.
Answers To
Questions
1.
In 1796 the United States
elected a President and vice president from different parties. They were John Adams, a
federalist, as president, and Thomas Jefferson, a republican, as vice president.
2.
Four ways that were
suggested to elect the President between 1808 and 1846 were: 1808-Choosing by lot,
1816-direct vote, 1821-Automatic plan, 1826-the president would be chosen by rotating four
regions.
3.
Five U.S. Presidents who
were elected with less than the popular vote are Nixon, Kennedy, Truman, Wilson, and
Harrison.
4.
The winner-take-all system
is where the candidate who has the most votes in that state gets all of the electoral
votes. Maine is the only state that doesn’t use this.
5.
Electors vote the first
Monday after the second Wednesday in December. The results are known in January after both
houses count.
6.
The affect that
substituting a direct popular for the electoral college on third party candidates would be
that it would encourage them, and they would have a better chance of getting electoral
votes.
7.
Four arguments for and
against a direct system are:
The direct vote system encourages third
parties, it also ensures that very vote counts. It gives more power to smaller and less
populated states and it also ensures that the candidate will campaign in every state.
Against the direct vote is that the system would lessen the power of larger states, the
minority vote would no longer exist, and give the third party no reason to run.
8.
The difference between the
district plan, the proportion plan, and the winner-take-all is the proportional plan is
where the district is divided into parts. The one with the most districts wins. The
winner-take-all is where the winner of the state takes all electoral votes.
9.
Four points that should be
included for electing the U.S. president in 1969 were the need for a quick decision and
clear-cut winner. The victor should be the people’s choice, winner of the most
popular vote. The president elect should have a mandate to govern, a legitimacy, which
comes from a good margin of victory. The ideal system should not undermine the two-party
system.
10.
Americans prefer
pragmatics to ideologues because we as Americans are not concern about whether a
recommendation is consistent or right. We are more concerned with whether the
recommendation is going to work because we are the kind of people who like to see things
get done. We are also the kind of people who like to fix things no matter if the way we
fix it is right or wrong.