Electoral college?

Question

why was it created? how does it work? what are its strengths and weaknesses? should it be continued or not? why?

Answer 1

It was created so states with less people in them could have a vote, and their thoughts would be counted, instead of only cities, and states with a higher population. Do you want New York to always be able to decide who is going to be your president? The large cities in the country would always be the electors of the president, then, and the farming states who grow food for the country, would be left out of the vote. More Liberals, and poor families live in the cities, than Conservatives. It would be a complete bias for the government to accept the popular vote, and not count states, like Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Arizona, Illinois, and other less populated states. Each state needs a voice, and the electoral college is the way they get that voice. Our forefathers put the electoral college law into place, knowing what would happen. I thank them for it. Just a clue, here, but I think those mid-west states would lose interest in growing food for America, if they didn't get a choice in who their next president was going to be.

Answer 2

From what I remember of my government and history courses, the electoral college was originally created because it wasn't possible to communicate to all the citizens about who was running for president and what he stood for. Citizens would therefore have people they knew locally who they would "vote for" to vote for them. The idea being that these local members of the electoral college would be the ones who understood the candidates and their platforms and could therefore make an educated vote.
What actually happens is that there is an electoral college group for each candidate in each state. The number in each group depends on the population on the state (that is how many votes a candidate can pick up from each state). Lets say Hillary Clinton runs in the next election and in Minnesota, the most peolple vote for Hillary Clinton. The 10 members of the electoral college for the democratic party in Minnesota would get to vote for the next president. And it is assumed that they will vote for Hillary since that is what the state voted for.
Here's some more info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Electoral_College

Usually, the same person is elected under this system as would have been by the popular vote, but this is not always the case (as we saw in the 2000 elections where Al Gore actually won the popular vote but lost the presidency).

The rest of my answer is my opinion.
In the past, it made sense. Communication systems were poor and people knew the members of the electoral college and trusted that they would vote for the person they wanted. In present day, communication systems are highly advanced and anyone can get the information they need about the issues and candidates. So the electoral college system is actually outdated.

PS: On a side note, not all states give an all or nothing with their votes. Some go by district, so its possible for more than one candidate to get votes from a single state. It depends on the state though.

Answer 3

The electoral college was created out of the Great Compromise during the creation of our nation. The Great Compromise gave us the bicameral legislature of the Senate and the House. Without that, many states populations stand to lose much of the political power they have.

If the Electoral College is abolished, the United States Senate will disappear shortly thereafter. Again, all the medium sized and smaller states will lose politically if this were to happen.

The electoral college is simple. Anyone can become a member and have the opportunity to vote for President. The members are chosen at State Conventions for the various political parties.

I used to be one of those idiots promoting the idea of abolishing the electoral college. Take term limits for example. It sounds like a wonderful idea but, in reality, what it actually does is give lobbyists unlimited power while taking power away from the public to elect public servants who represent them. So if you want to take power away from the people and give it to lobbyists support term limits. If you want to take power away from the medium and smaller states and give it all to the larger states then support the abolition of the electoral college.

Answer 4

The U.S. is a "republic within a democracy".

Democracy means the power comes from the people.

Republic means we citizens elect officials to run the government.

The electoral college is part of the republic. Each elector stands for one vote from the state he or she represents. A state has as many electors as it does Congressmen and women. (WV has 2 senators and 3 representatives, so 5 electors.) I am not sure how the electors are chosen, but that does not really matter: they only have to vote for the candidate that won the state, it's not that hard.

When you vote in an election, you are really telling your elector what to say. He or she has the responsibility to vote as their state has decided.

In short, their role is only to make your vote official. The electoral college was set up in the Constititution, so you could probably read up on it there.

It may seem pointless, but the College is an important part of our government.

Answer 5

It run it course. It is time that the People of the land demand that it be done away with.
It was shown in the last election where the people voted for one man and the Electoral college voted for another.
We can count votes now, we no longer need the electoral college.
I think popular vote should elect the President.

Answer 6

It was created because there was no central way to count all the ballots from all the states. It no longer has much to offer by way of strengths. It's biggest weakness is that the college could very well vote in the least desirable candidate. We should discontinue it because it is no longer useful in this modern computer era.

Answer 7

xenypoo is the only answer so far that has a clue on this issue. I'm not sure how accurate the answer is, but the others are flat out WRONG. Apparently our public school really have quit teaching American History.