Isn't about time to get rid of the Electorial College?

Question

Why do we need it? Are the votes of the American people not enough?????

The electorial college only acts as a fail safe for the republicans to put their candidate in charge in close elections. We voted Al Gore in. Bush was appointed. Is that right?

Is this even a democracy without the right to vote?

James F. You are very wrong. Candidates already go to the states that have more electorial votes which are also coincidentaly the states with large populations. What is the difference?

Answer 1

Some wise guys once said-
"That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

In other words, it is our duty to revolt against oppression and dictators and ensure our constitution represents the needs of the people.

It was the founding fathers of the United States who wrote these words into the Declaration of Independence and they apply just as much today as 200 years ago.

The only problem is many people are scared because of the all the "don't go there, its treason" clauses inserted by law makers ever since to stop reform.

Time is up. America needs change.

http://united-america.org

Answer 2

The reason we had the electoral college was because it was feared that people wouldn't be informed enough and they would just choose the person who was from their area.

There are different types of democracy. We have a representative democracy not a pure democracy. We elect people to represent different areas.

I believe it is time to get rid of the electoral college. The Electoral college was designed in a different time where we didn't have as rampat media as we do. People are more informed therefore we don't need to have it. I don't think it is right that all a person has to do is win key states to get elected as opposed to winning over the majority of the citizens. If that was the case, Bush would have never been elected. Technically Gore won the popular vote. But Bush won the electoral votes because he won in some key states.

In the past election both Kerry and Bush was schmoozing Ohio because Ohio was considered a key state in the election so they spent a lot of time here and ignored other states. I think a president should have to appeal to all the people of the United States not just the key states.

Answer 3

The electoral college ensures that the president represents the wishes of the fullest possible cross section of views in the country. Without it, the candidates would spend all of their time in states with large populations, catering to those who live in major urban centers, while ignoring rural voters.

A great analogy I heard was this: In the World Series a team can, and often does, lose, even though they score more runs, because winning the most games is the important thing, not by much they are won. The same goes for the president. He should win the most states, not necessarily the most votes. Further, the winner of the election has so rarely not been the winner of the popular vote that the results would be essentially the same.

Answer 4

No.

The electoral college was put in place to make sure that there would never be a regional president. To run for the highest position in the nation you must campaign to the whole nation, not just the population centers. With out the electoral college why should the candidates worry about the smaller states. And as it turned out the smaller states were ignored and an election lost. The electoral college did what it was suppose to.

There have been a few elections where candidates have won popular and lost electoral. The parties should know how an election works by now.

Answer 5

Gang, i'm no longer an expert the following, yet i understand one component: in case you remove the Electoral college, then your One Vote WILL count number...... as long as you stay in: California (36 million), Texas (22), ny (19), Florida (17), Illinois (12), Pennsylvania (12), Ohio (11), Michigan (10), Georgia (9) or New Jersey (8). those properly-10 inhabitants States should be the purely States that ANY contenders for nationwide workplace will EVER be seen in, because those are ALL they opt to WIN. ( Now, for sure, the "36 million" isn't balloting age substances, yet neither is the only-million in Montana. ) The Electoral college helps to point the playing field in words of inhabitants density in the course of the States. So, be VERY careful what you want for, people... 'cuz you only would Get It. Peace. Rick

Answer 6

A good book on the electoral college is Securing Democracy (Why We Have an Electoral College) edited by Gary Gregg, the director of the McConnell Center at the University of Louisville.

Before you jump to conclusions based on the recent elections, read something about the history of it. You first have to realize that we are not a direct democracy, but a representative democracy.

If Iraq had anything like it, they wouldn't be in a civil war. Why? Because each of the warring groups feels that they must win EVERYTHING. They do not have our concept of "half a loaf is better than no loaf at all", which is to say that they do not understand compromise. They are fighting for the whole country rather than focusing on gaining political advantage in certain areas. So the smaller groups are afraid of losing all power to the larger groups. The Electoral College is meant to prevent such lopsided outcomes.

The Electoral College is a structure that protects compromise.

Answer 7

I've thought that the electoral college was a bad idea from the day I first learned about it in school. It was created at a time when a system like it was needed to ensure fair and proper counting of votes, but today it is outmoded, outdated, and (as can be seen in the two most recent presidential elections) often results in the less popular candidate being elected.

Answer 8

It is way past the time we got rid of the electoral college. When picking our president, we should really all just be Americans. And it also makes it so that instead of having to appeal to Americans, our candidates just have to appeal to Kansans or Floridians or other small segments of our society, leaving many of us out of the political debate. My state votes Democratic, so Bush never even bothered with us really. I might have voted for him. Ok I wouldn't have, but that's not the point.

Answer 9

Absolutely not! Read up on how our government works. Without the failsafe of the electoral college, we would soon have a 'mobocracy'. The Federal Republic given us by our founding fathers has survived so long because it works, and works well. Just because your guys lost last time doesn't change that fact.

And you DO have the right to vote. Learn about your system before complaining about it.

Answer 10

Not only would we have candidates always going to the same states they would also always be coming from the same states and the same states of mind. I live in Texas, so that wouldn't be so much of a problem for me, as it would be for someone from say Montana, where they would never be heard from in voting.

It's really to protect the interest of the less populous states.