The Electoral College

The United States is not a direct democracy. Our nation selects its president not through the popular vote but rather through the Electoral College. The Electoral College and its machinations became nationally prominent during the 2000 presidential election when Democratic Candidate Al Gore won the popular vote but lost the election because he lost the Electoral College (Toren). This paper will outline the history of the Electoral College and analyze its workings in order to determine whether or not it is a viable method to choose a president. We will discover that although the system appears cumbersome, it remains the best way to choose the U.S. president.

The Electoral College, and not the popular vote, determines the winner of the presidential election. The Electoral College, as it operates today, allocates to each state a number of electors which reflects the number of Senators and Representatives that state has in the U.S. Congress. The political parties, before the election, each submit a list of electors for each state that is equal to the number of electors that state has (the District of Columbia is afforded three electors even though it has no representation in Congress). Senators, Congressmen, and federal employees are barred from being electors. These electors are typically selected by the particular state's political party. After the election returns are certified in a state, whichever party wins the popular vote in that state determines what electo

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ormation about candidates who resided in other states. Additionally, the founding fathers were highly suspicious of political parties. The founding fathers considered various forms of presidential election, including having Congress choose the president or having direct popular vote choose the president. The former was rejected because many felt that the having Congress choose the president would be too divisive, the latter was rejected because they feared that citizens would not have enough information about candidates from distant states to make an informed decision. Additionally, the smaller states feared that the larger, more populous states would have a larger say in deciding who would be president. The Electoral College was chosen precisely because it is a hybrid of popular voting and indirect election (Kimberling, The Electoral College). Having seen how the electoral college works and why it was the method chosen by the Founding Fathers, we will now turn our attention to its benefits and problems. People who object to the Electoral College and favor direct popular election typically point to four main problems: the possibility of electing a minority president, the risk of "faithless electors," the Electoral Colle

Category: Government - T