The Electoral College was created for a purpose, but is that purpose still needed?

Question

The Electoral College was created because spreading the word and counting ballots was near impossible when it creation occured. Electoral College voting was therefore a need to get the voting results of the people from each state. But is it still needed?? Postal Mail, Telephone, Television, Radio, Internet, YouTube..

we are all trying to find the best system possible with new technology and hopfully a bit more brains. and i like to think if the founding fathers were radical enough to create their own constitution, then they wouldnt have a problem with the people who were to benifit from it to change or recreate a new one with similar guidelines.so If i didnt explain why the electoral college was created right, explain why then, so i can update. its called teamwork, not iwork, uwork. !!GO TEAM GO!!

Answer 1

Electoral College is the reason why this country is so messed up today. Without the electoral college, George W. Bush would still be in his primitive state, Texas. We wouldn't be in Iraq and probably logic would rule.

Answer 2

You skipped all of those American History and Civics classes, didn’t you?

The Electoral College exists as part of the democratic republic America’s Founding Fathers created. It is one of the measures they took to even the balance of power among the states (large and small) and because they wanted to put the brakes on majority rule in order to give minority opinion at least a fighting chance.

Answer 3

Yes, we still need it to keep the elections fair, and to maintain states rights.

When the US Government was created, there was a lot of power given to states. US Senators were supposed to be sent by state legislatures.

The Federal Government has become too powerful, and getting rid of the electoral college would only give them more power.

Answer 4

Pro-Electorial College people will say that its because if it was based on the popular vote then all the candidates would have to do is win the vote of the entire population of the major cities. That is ridiculous.

When's the last time that 100% of New York City voted for 1 person? Democracy means "people rule." Popular vote may not include a small midwest town, but the collective reasoning behind the popular vote is that the majority of this country knows what's best for this country and vote accordingly. The President is voted in a national election and is President over a national collective, not a state-by-state collective. We have Congress to represent the state and district interests, if not, I could see the need for an Electorial College. You're right, now that we have the means to cast our vote and truely make it count individually, then we should do away with the Electorial College.

By the way, I live in Texas, the state of our most unpopular President in history. In 2000 I knew that no matter who I voted for, it wouldn't count because Texans would most certainly vote for Bush, no matter what. Just by throwing his hat in the ring he won the Texas EC votes. Alot of voters in Texas that were not for Bush saw this too and I'm sure alot of them grew apathetic about voting because they knew their vote was pointless, and the majority were voting for a Conservative, Religious Texan rather than a National President. That's another reason for low voter turnout. The Electorial College really makes your vote not count by labeling States as swing states and pretty much labeling the other states as decided. There should be things the President should be more focused on, like issues we can label as swing Issues.

State patriotism is what caused the Civil War. Robert E. Lee wasn't pro-slavery at all, but his state of Virginia was, so he fought for the Confederacy. See where the Electorial College is flawed? The majority of the State can be on the wrong side and lead residents to vote for the majority of their state rather than for personal reasons.

Answer 5

I used to question that too, but wikipedia has a great article on the pros/cons, and I have to admit the pros won me over. I don't know if it's enough to keep an antiquated system around (it may still need some reform), but I'm not convinced we should completely abolish it either. The electoral college does help even out the balance of power between urban and rural areas. Take a look:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Electoral_College#Arguments_for_the_current_system

Answer 6

The Electoral College was set up so that all parts of the country got to participate in and determine the election in a more balanced way. I am in favor of the Electoral College. If we had direct elections, a few sizable concentrations of liberal Democrats would control all national elections. The liberal dens on inequity are Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, Boston, Philadelphia.

Answer 7

When I look around at the ignorance of those that we would rely upon without the electoral college. Yes. Most women vote based upon which candidate they think is sexiest. And most men vote based upon their height. I would like the the electoral college to have the opportunity to overturn an election that goes horribly wrong in the future because we let idiots vote.

Answer 8

That's not why the Electoral College was created.

Answer 9

The EC is absolutely brilliant. Your reasons listed for the creation of the EC are simply incorrect.

Answer 10

Yes, it's still needed so that the country folks aren't left out, in some situations, and so the city folks aren't left out in other situations.