What is the purpose of the Electoral College in US Presidential elections?
The Electoral College was created for two reasons. The first purpose was to create a buffer between population and the selection of a President. The second as part of the structure of the government that gave extra power to the smaller states.
The first reason that the founders created the Electoral College is hard to understand today. The founding fathers were afraid of direct election to the Presidency. They feared a tyrant could manipulate public opinion and come to power.
The electoral college is also part of compromises made at the convention to satisfy the small states. Under the system of the Electoral College each state had the same number of electoral votes as they have representative in Congress, thus no state could have less then 3. The result of this system is that in this election the state of Wyoming cast about 210,000 votes, and thus each elector represented 70,000 votes, while in California approximately 9,700,000 votes were cast for 54 votes, thus representing 179,000 votes per electorate. Obviously this creates an unfair advantage to voters in the small states whose votes actually count more then those people living in medium and large states.
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What are your thoughts on this subject?
103 Comments
Gerald Gladden
I would argue that as a resident of a smaller state, I would have no say in who is elected president without the electoral college. There would be no need to ever campaign in my state and 3 or 4 states would always determine who is elected. Furthermore, if it ever gets removed, I would be a proponent of secession from the US for my state.
Fred Archambault
The Electoral College was another example of the brilliance of the Founding Fathers. Those who call for the elimination of the Electoral College as un-democratic have forgotten that we are not, nor have we ever been a democracy. We are a representative republic and the EC is just another example of that.
Gary Kirkman
markdclark, it’s probably the best idea in history. It prevents candidates from winning by campaigning in the ten most populous cities and ignoring the rest of the country. Without the electoral college, most states will be disenfranchised.
Shirley Dutt
Too many states are trying to do away with the electoral college. They are also the same ones trying to undermine our United States constitution. They want a one world order, no borders and everyone dependent on government for every aspect of their lives. Just my opinion.
Carol Focht Cheney
Why is it people are fine with the Electoral College when their candidate wins the election but the same people want it abolished when their candidate doesn't win?
Sandra Caulfield
I certainly do not want the East Coast and the West Coast making decisions for the whole U.S.A.
Judy Keller
Although this definition is partly correct, it is not true to say that the “smaller states” (actually the less populated states), have an unfair advantage. They actually have a more equitable representation and ability to benefit from campaigns by the presidential hopefuls or candidates in order to know and understand the issues and the ideas that are prevalent amongst the campaigners.
The Electoral College is an example of the brilliance and extraordinary foresight of our Founding Fathers. It is as relevant and needed today as it was then. They sought to form “a more perfect union”. Our form of government is certainly the best that the world has ever known or will ever know. It is the people in the government who are the problem.
Thomas Alton
If the EC was eliminated all campaigning would be done in big cities in big states. Small states would be forgotten. This also would mean that small states would be forgotten when handing out money from federal coffers. The small states would be relegated to third world status to satisfy those who do not know how to campaign.
Larry Hughes
Without the Electoral college there is no "United" States, a few large states, CA, NY, TX would dictate to the rest of us! If you want a civil war, eliminate the electoral college, we’ve already fought on war over taxation without representation and we'll do it again!
Judy Schuler
It just shows how brilliant the founding fathers were. I really don't want the big cities choosing the president and my vote counting for nothing.
marilynmitri
All people's votes should have equal weight and value.
GONavarini
Harry Black, So you are in favor of stitching the Constitution and our federal representative republic and become a unitary government run out of DC?
Please note this is what you are advocating.
If you go and read the Consitution, you will find that the several states and not the citizenry select the chief executive. This is by design to keep the centers of power closer to the people through their states and counties and not centralized in one far-away and unresponsive central government.
Truth be told, we should pay more attention to we elect to state house than the White House, as our state laws and regulation have a far greater impact on our day-to-day lives than the non-sense and expense that oozes from Washington.
GONavarini
Judy Schuler, Actually, if we were to revert to a unitary government with direct democracy, the two or three "elections" were would have would before the inevitable revolution be determined by 14 counties in three states.
GONavarini
Larry Hughes, Exactly!
GONavarini
Thomas Alton, Actually, if we were to revert to a unitary government with direct democracy, the two or three "elections" were would have would before the inevitable revolution be determined by 14 counties in three states.
GONavarini
anthonygriffin, Seems you think we live in a democracy, and the "American people" select the President.
We don't and that is by design.
The United States is a federal representative republic, and the states and not the citizenry select the chief executive.
GONavarini
onewayfarer, Seems you think we live in a democracy. We don't and that is by design. The United States is a federal representative republic, and the states and not the citizenry select the chief executive.
If you read the Constitution carefully, you will see that. What you won't see anywhere is the word "vote" or "national election" as neither is provided.
James
It is the only honest way. To give the smaller states a say in an election.
shawnadsitt
Not this time, Americans are waking up, by this time next year Trump will be in prison! BlueWave coming!!! Go hide! Bye byeAndrina Schuit,
Harry Black
All elections should be decided by the candidate getting the most votes. Anything else is unamerican! A candidate drawing 5000 at a rally in Wyoming is reaching the same number of people as a candidate holding a similar rally in California. So both rallies are equally advantageous if the popular vote in used. Actually these days most candidates are reached by radio and TV anyway. When was the last time a candidate visited Wyoming or Alaska?
faith f
Glad to see this question since we now have liberals trying to make it a racist thing to get rid of the electoral out!
bill hosch
Cheryl Love, I'm sorry you don't see the brilliance of the Founding Fathers' design. Also, we were better served as a country when the states legislatures selected the Senators. The move to a popular vote 100 years ago is arguably not an improvement.
bill hosch
Todd Van Dell, In 1992 Clinton hardly had a landslide victory. Ross Perot siphoned off 19% of the vote. Also, as to "balancing the scales" how do you explain FDR and Truman?
forsythe
hlfulwood, I can't speak to who was in the room, but you're right that those 2 groups couldn't vote. That might be the best rationale I've heard to re-visit the issue, however I don't think race or gender are significantly affected differently than the general population by the EC. I think the main distinction is densely populated areas, vs less dense. As many others have written here, without the EC, politicians could focus solely on 5-10 states, and ignore the other 40-45. Or similarly, only focus on big cities--a case in point is Illinois: Chicago is strongly Democrat, but almost every other County in the state usually votes Republican. The population of Chicago overrides the rest of the state, however it is still relevant that people outside of the big city have different priorities.
forsythe
Sounds like a Democrat--vote 10 times...