Should the Electoral College be maintained?

Answer 1

No. The United States is the only country that has the Electoral College. It is considered undemocratic as, even if the result is close, the winner takes all. My opinion is that a system similar to how the House is voted was used. (i.e. different areas voted, and those area's had 1 EV each)

Answer 2

(Copies, Pastes old answer. Since we get one of these questions every day)

Pro: The Founders of this nation had a justified fear of complete democracy. They set up a system where supposedly wise men, elected by the people, and holding no other office at the time, would chose a President. They knew "There's a sucker born every minute". They made sure that there was an insulating layer of responsible people between the voter and the presidency. Thus there is some protection from the lies and deceit that went on during election season, then just as it does now.

Con:
1. Those who failed their civics classes, or who have never received any instruction in our system of government, continue to complain and question the Electoral College. This makes the sheep easily identified and led by the barking dogs.

2. Those who wish to take advantage of the gullibility of the average voter would like to do away with the Electoral College, in order to make their nonsense campaigns more effective.

Although the Electors of most states are "pledged" to vote for the winner in that state, and most face criminal penalties for breaking that pledge, there may come a time when the Electoral College is forced to muster its courage and go against the vote. This could happen in a scenario where massive fraud or corruption is found between the national election day and the balloting of the Electoral College. This could happen, and is what was intended by the founders of this nation.

Answer 3

The Electoral College may have made sense in 1789, but it has long outlived its usefulness. In 1789, communication was poor and the average citizen had little access to information about the candidates. Back then, the Electors who voted in the electoral college were not necessarily picked by the voters at all, and they were not necessarily pledged to vote for a particular candidate. The Electors could be picked by state legislatures, and they were expected to carefully consider who to vote for in picking a president.

Now, the Electoral College, under which states generally vote as a block - with all their electoral votes going to the winner of the popular vote in the state, is great for people who live in swing states such as Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio. People in swing states (also known as battleground states) get lots of visits from candidates who pay attention to what they want. The candidates also spend a great deal of money in those states for campaign advertisements.

The Electoral College is great for the Miami Cubans because neither party wants to upset them by easing the embargo on Cuba.

Unfortunately, if you don't live in a swing state, you are just a spectator in presidential elections - The candidates don't even bother to visit spectator states after the primaries except to raise campaign contributions, because it is assumed that the state will vote blue or vote red. Why bother with the needs of Texas or California, when you know that Texas's electoral votes are going to go to the Republican and California's electoral votes are going to go to the Democrat?

Some Republicans in spectator states, such as Congressman Ron Paul of Texas, favor keeping the Electoral College. These people claim that getting rid of the Electoral College would favor liberals on the East and West Coasts. But if John Kerry had won just 60,000 more votes in Ohio, he would be president today, even though Bush won the national popular vote by more than 3 million votes. In response, the conservatives who favor keeping the Electoral College argue that this was an anomaly that is not likely to happen again if we keep the present system. (By January of 2009 when the new president takes office, the Republicans will have had control of the White House for 28 of the previous 40 years.)

Republicans tend to benefit when the voter turn out is low, and moving to a popular vote system, would increase the voter turnout, because every vote would count. Republicans have also been active in challenging the right of people to vote in areas where most voters are likely to vote Democratic (based on the claim that the voter is not properly registered or has been convicted of a felony or is ineligible for some other reason.) The current Electoral College system permits Republicans to concentrate their vote suppression efforts in a few swing states.

In theory, the Electoral College gives more power to small states like Alaska or Montana, because each state gets at least 3 Electoral Votes, but in practice the candidates don't pay any attention to a small state, unless it is also a swing state with roughly an equal number of Democratic and Republican voters.

The fact that the so called fly over states get a extra representation in the Electoral College is largely irrelevant. The worse thing about the Electoral College is the winner take all way that almost all of the states award their electoral votes - which prevents all but a very few states from being spectator states.

There is a realistic plan to get rid of the electoral college, and the state of Maryland has just enacted it into law. The Hawaii legislature has passed a similar bill and it is awaiting the signature of Hawaii's Governor. This plan has a considerable amount of support among both Democrats and Republicans.


See: http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/04/10/schneider.electoral/index.html

The idea of one person - one vote is an important principal in a democracy. But the greatest evil of the electoral college is that it concentrates power in a very few states, something that people who favor the Electoral College claim that it avoids.

For more information, see:

http://www.nationalpopularvote.com/pages/explanation.php
and
http://www.every-vote-equal.com/

Answer 4

We have an Electoral College because the founding fathers didn't trust the voters with elections. I believe the Electoral College has outlasted its usefulness. That being the case, the Electoral College should be dismantled BEFORE 2008 elections.

Answer 5

No it should be abolished. Back when the Electoral College was created, the American public had know way of knowing what each candadite stood for, so they created the EC. It gave each state a certain number of votes based on how many people lived in that state. It's no longer needed today.

Answer 6

The electoral college is simply the gathering of all the votes in the state and giving their points to voters, it cuts threw the clutter

Answer 7

If it were to be examined, its functions taken and looked at for acceptability and check and balance in support of the guidlines and purpose for its existance and is found to be in accordance to doctrine and does not oppose or negate in any conceivable manner the ability of the people to fully utilize all rights and freedoms given by the doctrine of the people patterning their lives by it, I would say yes it should be. If not and there is a flaw of any kind discovered, it should be revised or deemed unconstitutional and restrictive and abolished.

Answer 8

Having a trained dog isn’t the same as having a balanced dog, but if your dog knows a few basic commands, it can be helpful when tackling problem behaviors — existing ones or those that may develop in the future. Learn here https://tr.im/ZN0Vs

So where do you start with dog obedience training? You could take a class, but it’s not necessary; you can do it yourself. In fact, with the right attitude, it can be fun for both you and your dog!
Step 1 : Sit
This is one of the easiest dog obedience commands to teach, so it’s a good one to start with.
• Hold a treat close to your dog’s nose.
• Move your hand up, allowing his head to follow the treat and causing his bottom to lower.
• Once he’s in sitting position, say “Sit,” give him the treat, and share affection.
Repeat this sequence a few times every day until your dog has it mastered. Then ask your dog to sit before mealtime, when leaving for walks, and during other situations where you’d like him calm and seated.
Step 2 : Come
This command can help keep a dog out of trouble, bringing him back to you if you lose grip on the leash or accidentally leave the front door open.
• Put a leash and collar on your dog.
• Go down to his level and say, “Come,” while gently pulling on the leash.
• When he gets to you, reward him with affection and a treat.
Once he’s mastered it with the leash, remove it — and practice the command in a safe, enclosed area.
Step 3 : Down
This can be one of the more difficult commands in dog obedience training. Why? Because the position is a submissive posture. You can help by keeping training positive and relaxed, particularly with fearful or anxious dogs.
• Find a particularly good smelling treat, and hold it in your closed fist.
• Hold your hand up to your dog’s snout. When he sniffs it, move your hand to the floor, so he follows.
• Then slide your hand along the ground in front of him to encourage his body to follow his head.
• Once he’s in the down position, say “Down,” give him the treat, and share affection.
Repeat it every day. If your dog tries to sit up or lunges toward your hand, say “No” and take your hand away. Don’t push him into a down position, and encourage every step your dog takes toward the right position. After all, he’s working hard to figure it out!

Answer 9

It has outlived its original pourpose. It started when it took a long time to have elections. There was no phones, no internet, no fast communications at all. A representative was sent with the vote of his state and who they wanted elected. We no longer have that situation, but neither side is willing to get rid of it.

Answer 10

Yes