The Electoral College Essay Sample

The Founding Fathers established the Electoral College into the constitution in 1804. It was created as a compromise between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and the election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens. It is a method where the use of electors gives our country a representative president while avoiding a corruptible national election. The Electoral College ensures the presidential election is a fair voting system where all states get equal representation, it is a simple system that makes it easy to guarantee a fair election, as well as provides candidates an easier and cheaper campaigning process.  

The Electoral College makes sure all states in the U.S are relevant in politics. There are rural states like Vermont and then there are urban states like California, both states have very different populations and would be treated differently in elections if the Electoral College were to be abolished.  However, with the existence of the Electoral College rural states with lower populations have an equal voice. It ensures presidential candidates visit those states or consider the needs of rural residents in their policy platforms. As it has been said: "Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to eat for lunch." The small states, especially, could not be safe in such a world. The Founders sought something quite different and it has worked great. The current Electoral College system creates a needed balance between rural and urban interests and ensures that the winning candidate has support from multiple regions of the country. America is a large and diverse country. It deserves a unique election process, ensuring that all voices are heard in the election of its president. The democratic-federalist Electoral College has served the country well in this regard. It should be kept. Opposition to the Electoral College is not universal. The Electoral College and the Constitution’s other institutional arrangements exist to safeguard the space where Americans participate in politics to make collective decisions based on equality. Abolishing it would jeopardize that space and, in the process, exacerbate the federal government’s current dysfunction.

With the Electoral College, presidential candidates have an easier way to campaign. Campaigning throughout the country requires every presidential candidate to spend financial resources as effectively as possible. Each candidate has limited time to demonstrate to the voters that she/he is the best fit to be President, and the amount of time remaining before Election Day decreases with every passing day. Campaigning is an expansive process and without the Electoral College, it would become even more expansive and stressful since candidates would need to campaign in the U.S as a whole instead of individual states. Candidates have it easier with the Electoral College in play because if you’re a Democrat running for president, you don’t have to spend too much time or money wooing voters in California. The same goes for Republican candidates and Texas. As well as if the U.S were to get rid of the Electoral College future candidates would need to establish new campaigning stradinges. That could cause major frustration and chaos because the U.S has only ever used the Electoral College so there would be no history on how a popular vote could affect campaigning. All in all the Electoral College is very effective when it comes to campaigning.

The Electoral College is a system that provides a clean-cut outcome. It makes sure that the outcome is not questable and if a state has significant voting irregularities, that state alone can do a recount. This as well helps with maintaining any cheating that may occur.  Imagine the problems that would arise . . . if the entire Nation had to be counted and then recounted to ascertain the results of the election.  Also said by Lowenstein  “...for some reason after the election there is a very very serious scandal involving this person if we had a national popular vote we'd be in trouble we happen by accident to have the ideally situated political institution to deal with that kind of a problem if and when it arises”  The 2000 presidential election saw an unprecedented vote recount in Florida that was a belabored, emotional, and costly process, even though it was limited to only one state, so a recount of ballots in the whole U.S would be a disaster. Overall the Electoral College makes so  there’s no need for a national recount  and this makes for a fair election.  In addition, the fact that a candidate must gain the support of voters in several different geographic regions promotes the national cohesion needed to ensure a peaceful transfer of power. 

 Citizens of the United States may feel like their vote doesn't matter because the winner of the popular vote is not guaranteed the presidency. Citizens who live in a state with the majority of it being the opposite party will most likely feel this way because they aren't making a difference in the final result of the election. In past elections of the years ​​1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016 it happened that the candidate with higher electoral votes won but didn't have the higher popular vote. Although many find this unfair and think that the majority should elect the president it is important to know that if the Electoral College were to be removed favoritism would increase and cause the U.S. to become even more politically polarized. This is why it is critical to preserve the Electoral College. As well as abolishing the Electoral College wouldn't be an easy process and it is quite unlikely since the Constitution's Article V requires that an amendment be proposed by two-thirds of the House and Senate, or by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the state legislatures. Universally removing the Electoral College would bring too many unknowns and would not be an intelligent choice.

The Electoral College is a great system that has given the United States of America a fair election for every Presidential Election to occur. It is engraved into our constitution and presents our country as a whole. Overall the Electoral College empowers our country and creates a straightforward process that ensures a simple and fair Presidential Election.