Should the Electoral College be Abolished Essay?

Every 4 years, our nation faces a pivotal moment in deciding its future leader: the selection of a new president. However, the voting practice may not be considered fair due to the fact that direct votes are usually not taken into account, particularly in states with less population. As a result, it could be argued that the voting system should be abolished.

The amount of electoral votes each state is allocated is determined by the count of its representatives and senators. Some of the smallest states, like Delaware, Vermont, and Washington D.C., get only 3 electoral votes; Montana and Wyoming, which have larger populations, also get 3 votes. This means that even if a candidate has most of the popular vote, they could still lose the election if the state is not populous enough. Is this fair?

Document D contains a chart that contains the population and electoral votes of 12 states combined, which amount to 12,500,722 and 44, respectively. Illinois, on the other hand, has a 12,830,632 population but only 20 electoral votes. This is an example of an unfair voting process, as Illinois has more people and yet, fewer electoral votes. This is another reason why the current voting system should be done away with.

In Document G, I see the popular vote as ineffective since it doesn’t appear to matter. For example, in the 1888 election, Harrison took 5,443,899 popular votes while Cleveland had 5,534,488; however, Harrison won due to electoral votes. If I had the choice, I would elect the president with the most popular votes, but this is not possible with the current voting process. This same trend occurred in the 2016 election, where Hillary Clinton had 65,844,610 popular votes, and Trump had 62,979,636, yet Trump was still elected due to electoral votes despite the difference of 2,864,974.

The Electoral College is an affront to the fair representation of smaller populations. It disregards the democratic ethos of one person, one vote, as the worth of a citizen’s ballot depends on their state’s population size and the race’s closeness. If we were to eliminate the system, every voter would be meaningful in the same way as it should be.

What is democracy? In America, it is the privilege of being able to cast ballots and pick representatives without any hindrance. However, some individuals lack the knowledge of how to vote, and the U.S. government attempted to address this with an electoral college, a committee of electors whose votes count for more. Unfortunately, this endeavor failed to meet expectations and further complicated the situation. The electoral college should be abolished due to its political bias in voting, the confusion it brings to elections, and the power it wields.

One of the major arguments for the abolition of the electoral college is that it results in political inequality. Specifically, the electoral college grants more votes to citizens of smaller states, which is actually the opposite of providing them with fair representation. An example of this is that combined, 13 of the smallest states have a population smaller than the state of Illinois, yet they have 24 more electoral votes. This highlights the unequal representation that the electoral college gives certain groups.

The electoral college has been known to cause confusion and chaos in elections, as seen in the 2000 election between Al Gore and George Bush. Despite the fact that more people had voted for Gore, Bush still won due to having more electoral votes. This shows that the popular vote does not always win, leading to an unjust outcome and giving a reason why the electoral college should be abolished.

The Electoral College has too much influence in American elections, and this is demonstrated by the 1992 presidential vote. Bill Clinton won the presidency despite not even having half the popular vote. This can lead to citizens feeling as though their votes are not valued. Therefore, the United States should do away with the Electoral College.

Summing Up the Electoral College

To sum up, the Electoral College is an unjust system that disregards democracy and is biased. The only way to ensure fairness in the election process would be to get rid of the Electoral College.