The Electoral College has been one of the most influential, and some may even argue only factor in electing the president of the United States. It is a controversial subject given that, in some ways, it lessens your vote as a citizen.
How It Works
There are two types of votes that can help the president. One is the popular and the other the electoral. To briefly describe how the Electoral works is that there are a total of 270 votes a candidate needs out of the 538 available. The number of votes depends on population size for states. The states with the most electoral votes since the start of 2020 are California (55), Florida (29), Texas (38) and New York (29) according to 270towin.com.
This means states like Idaho (4), Montana (3), Vermont (3) and New Hampshire (4) have less voting power on a state level. Since some of the safe states have the largest vote like California, which is democrat, it makes smaller states more important since they can give that extra edge to win.
Criticism
Many argue that the electoral college lessens the votes of its citizens due to presidents solely focusing on larger swing states like Texas.
There is also the fact that even if a president wins the popular vote like Al Gore in 2000, George Bush Jr. won because of the electoral vote. The people voted for Al Gore, and if it came down to just the popular vote he would have won. Mayors, city officials and even state senators are put in office by sole popular vote. Why should the president be any different?
There are also arguments that less turnout occurs in states that are safe states due to the college always voting for one party and not the person running.
“If you were to cram everyone into California and just leave one person in each state then California, she decides [the president].” According to CGP Grey, a Youtube political channel. If a president were to win just 11 of the biggest states they are more than likely becoming president. This leaves smaller states without power.
There is also the biggest concern that these electors aren’t even chosen by the people to vote on that state’s behalf. The qualification as stated in the constitution in “Article II, section 1, clause 2 provides that no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an elector.”
Most of the time no one really knows who is in the electoral college except for those in major political positions, which makes buying the electoral vote very possible. The national archive also goes on to say that you aren’t even voting for the president when you go to vote.
“When you vote for a Presidential candidate, you aren’t actually voting for President. You are telling your State which candidate you want your State to vote for at the meeting of electors.” This means that even if you vote for republican the entire party could have been bought off to vote for democrats since they are not obligated to vote for their state’s choice of candidate.
Support
When it comes down to it most people focus on the sole interest of themselves, not the collective. Most also won’t do in-depth research into the person they are voting for.
“A small number of persons, selected by their fellow-citizens from the general mass, will be most likely to possess the information and discernment requisite to such complicated investigations.” Said Alexander Hamilton from the federalist papers. The electoral college, among many reasons, was created to help easy the burden of some research for citizens. The people in the college are supposedly well versed in the political ideals of the candidates and will have all the information needed to make the best choice for the country.
There is also the fact that it helps minority groups and smaller states. Though the more populated states get the most votes, some of the biggest are safe or swing states for both parties. This makes it so that every state counts in getting that edge to 270.
Opinion
When it comes down to it, most people aren’t going to take the time to fully flesh out who is in office. As an individual voter, you are only really concerned with what the president is saying is good for you.
There is not a perfect system, but there is a better one out there. It is up to the citizens to vote for who they want. No one should have more power in voting then the other. With the technology available to us now it has never been easier to collect individual ballots.
This system was created hundreds of years ago, and as such should change with the times. Many people didn’t have access to information like we do now. Reading was for the elite where now more than 99% of the US population is literate. If you are voting for someone who will represent the entire US, then doing research should be as important as that position.
