Why are we still using the electoral college voting system?

Question

Why are we still using the electoral college system at all? Why shouldn't we switch to the popular vote? Shouldn't every single, individual vote count the same? Look at some of the past elections, some state's votes haven't even mattered. It's also so much easier to control voting districts in an attempt to fix elections. More people wanted Al Gore to be president but Bush won? How is that right? I also think that it would encourage more people to vote, knowing their vote counts as much as anyone elses.

What's your take on the subject?

Answer 1

Regardless of what the posted answers herein have elluded to--- the Republicans have had their OWN ISSUES with the Electorial College in the past !! Seems to be an issue ONLY when elections are over with and the loosing side of the aisle is unhappy--- then time goes by and it becomes an issue that can be , once again, set aside---while Other---more "pressing" things are dealt with ----
Personally, I believe, it is simply another way in which the true "rulers" of this -- so called "democracy" have of turning the tide in favor of the "good ole boys" that happen to be "playing ball" any particular season !!
And, this thing of "the more populace places" calling the shots in a Popular vote--- is simply a shell game excuse that is used by people who do not understand that a popular vote is simply THAT--- every single vote counting to the actual COUNT --- the rule of the people and the vote--- as opposed to an antiquated system that has so many crooks (that word was used intentionally) and turns with its "rules" and "applications" that no one that I know of can successfully explain it --- even those who are supposedly well versed in political matters !!!
It is the distinct reason that millions of people do not bother to vote any more !! And, over the last thirty years--- both political parties have talked about either abandoning the process OR completely revamping it --- and then-- like I said-- OTHER things take the foreground -- and THIS issue is laid to the back burner all over again for another four years !!!

Answer 2

It was a safety system put in place for a reason that is still very much alive today.

People are stupid and prone to mass hysteria

It does affect the vote but it was meant as a buffer to all the crazy people voting for the guy whose face looks most like Jesus or whatever. People get all whipped up because they heard a candidate farted and the Electoral College is supposed to be a fail safe from our own emotional exuberance.

I don't know if I agree with it or not...I do think it should be popular vote...but then again I see what people do during elections..ignoring economy, military, etc issues because we fight over gays, flags and prayer. I haven't decided of good or bad yet

Answer 3

In the long run, the electoral college voting system will be obsolete. Unfortunately the citizens of this country are not yet ready for a more democratic system. We still need the safe guard of an electoral college to guard against the mindless masses. With that said, it is not unreasonable to make changes to the electoral college.

Answer 4

We are still using it because it allows politicians to have the final say, not the people. It has nothing to do with partisan politics, it has to do with retention of power. The Repubs were screwed by it in the past, this is just the first time that the two parties were unwilling to reach a compromise.

I agree it should be done away with. Not for partisan reasons. I am all for Bush having won since at the time it came down to the electoral college; however, there is no reason we need to continue it. We should at least start a slow process of removing it and replacing it with individual votes, so that one person really does equal one vote. There are no longer communication issues that make it essential, it exists only to allow the people in power to keep a disproportiante amount of voting power.

Answer 5

If we did not have the electoral college, the presidency would be determined by the three or four largest cities in the country. A politician would only have to win those cities to become president. The electoral college allows every state to have a say in determining who will run the country. Our country is based on a union of the individual states. The states are responsible for electing the president, not necessarily the people.

Answer 6

If you go back to the beginning of our country, you would see that at the heart of it we are a nation of states that were supposed to govern their own people within the guidelines of the US Constitution (or earlier the Articles of Confederation). The Electoral College system is important because it allows us to choose as a state. It also keeps states that allow mass voter corruption to occur from taking away votes from honest states which try to make sure that their votes are legitimate.

Answer 7

We have it because the rich men who wrote our constitution did not want poor, un-educated people to have an equal say in who elected the president.

They created the Electoral College so that they could manipulate the vote and put in who they wanted, not who the un-educated masses wanted.

The whole system is rigged. It is about time the American people woke up to this fact.

How else could a criminal like George W. get elected a 2nd time?

Answer 8

In politics. there will always be people who believe it is in their interest to keep things the way they are and people who believe it is in their interest to change things, and that is why we still have the Electoral College.

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. The Texas legislature has just passed a new voter ID bill. It didn't get any Democratic votes and the supporters of the bill couldn't even get all the Republicans to vote for it because its purpose is so transparently to deny voting rights to poor people and minorities. In order to get a bare majority they had to include provisions for free state IDs.
See http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/4741563.html

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.

It is very difficult to amend the constitution, but there is a realistic plan to get rid of the electoral college without a constitutional amendment, and the state of Maryland enacted it into law in early April. The Hawaii legislature recently passed a similar bill, but Hawaii's governor vetoed it on April 23rd. Nevertheless, the 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 9

I don't know much about the U.S. elecion laws. All the other countries that have elections go by the one man one vote system.

Answer 10

The founding fathers knew there was going to be people voting who really shouldn't be voting. ( Mainly because of the lack of common sense.)
I believe they had it right way back then.....and it sure fits today.