Should we abolish the ELECTORAL COLLEGE?

Question

I feel that the presidential election results should be based *completely* on popular vote. 1 vote = 1 voice. FYI, the Electoral College system was actually devised by our founding fathers because they felt that the common man really couldn't be trusted with a decision that important. This was their 'backup system'. Basically, if one state is predominantly Rep or Dem, an opposing vote in that state is practically meaningless. There have been several times in American history where the popularly elected candidate lost the election. Any thoughts?

Answer 1

I totally agree with you. If a "government for the people by the people" is to be, then the presidential election should be based on popular vote. Even though the Electoral College system has been explained over and over to me, I still don't understand why in the heck it even exists because it certainly does not reflect the total people's choice.

Soooo, YES, we should abolish the electoral college.

Answer 2

right it is why we want the Electoral college. Florida 2000. keep in techniques what a mess it became? Now imagine a Presidential contest determined by technique of universal vote the position the version is purely 25,000 votes or a lot less. you'll have the Florida 2000 fiasco X 50. each and every state, each and every precinct will be suffering to recount votes. prices of vote irregularities and bias in counting will be rampant. a minimum of with the electoral college, we may be able to limit close contested elections to at least a million or 2 states max.

Answer 3

No. The electoral college makes sure that the person that votes in California has the same weight as the person that votes in Iowa. If there were no electoral votes, candidates would only campaign in California, New York, Mass., Illinois, etc. Granted that today with mass media campaigning isn't what it was 100 years ago.

Answer 4

Its an interesting thought, alot of pros and cons to it, any populated state would outrank a lesser populated state- hey that happens now in the electoral collage. Nebraska gets 2 votes and California gets how many?

Now if we had a election based purely on the number of votes cast, irregardless off state lines......hmmm.

Well you had better damn well make sure the voting machine manufacturer(s) have much better bi-partisan oversight than they do now. Or at least oversight of any type, period.

Answer 5

I guess my answer will be unpopular. I say no. If you do away with the electoral college you then have California (my state) and New York with maybe a couple of other states deciding the election. What would the people in the middle of the country feel?

Answer 6

Sounds similar to First past the Post in some ways - I was never too clear on what the electoral college was/is .

I was aware that the US was not competely democratic though

Answer 7

Keep it, the electro-college was put in place as a safeguard to protect the American Voters from themselves, we may not like it but the fact is sometimes the voter could cause great harm to our country and our way of life, our democracy counts on the electro-college for a stable America.

Answer 8

yeah, too many states are totally ignored

California Texas and New York have damn near a third of the US population and they're all completely out of play in a Presidential election because they lean heavily to one party or the other.

the small states its supposed to protect are the same way, no one is clammoring to win Vermont and Wyoming

Answer 9

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Although, we are told to make our voice heard, VOTE, do we really get a voice? Not as much as we think. It is an outdated system that really offends Americans' intelligence. But then again, many Americans aren't interested in politics and don't really care.

Answer 10

Yes = the Electoral College is an abomination.
The whole USA system is inferior to the Parliamentary System, in my opinion.