What is the Electoral College and How Does it Work

the Electoral College is the reason that presidents can be elected without most of the people in the U.S actually voting for them it was established by the United States Constitution in 1787 and has been used in every presidential election ever since at the time the founding fathers were actually concerned about giving too much power to the people of the United States who might be swayed by demagogues and wanted to ensure that the president had both 

The popular supports of the people and the support of the states of the Union the Electoral College consists of 538 individual electors who are chosen by the political parties in each state on Election Day citizens in each state cast their ballots for the president the candidate who receives the majority of the popular vote or the actual numbers of votes for each candidate in each state generally wins all of that State's electoral vote votes with two exceptions Maine in Nebraska which use a proportional allocation system where they send the number of electors proportional to the popular vote after all of the votes of the electors are tallied the candidate who receives at least 270 electoral votes out of a total of 538 is elected the president of the United States 

it's important to note that the popular vote or the actual will of the people is not guaranteed to win the election we saw this in 2000 in 2016 where the winner of the electoral college did not actually receive the most votes from the actual citizens of the United States despite these clear flaws in the electoral college system it still remains in use today for a few reasons first it does ensure that smaller states have a voice in the election process as each state is allotted a number of electoral votes based on its population without the Electoral College the focus of presidential campaigns would likely be on highly populated urban areas where they could win the popular vote and get the most votes possible leaving Rural and less populated areas out of political Focus second the Electoral College does provide stability to the election process by requiring a majority of electoral votes to win the presidency instead of just the plurality of popular votes this does reduce the likelihood of election disputes and ensures that the winner has broad support across 

The country not just in major metropolitan areas finally changing the way the president is elected would actually require a Constitutional Amendment which is actually very difficult despite the number of amendments we have this means that the Electoral College is likely to remain in use for the first future in summary the Electoral College is a complex and controversial system that has been in use for over two centuries at this point and while it does have its flaws it also provides important benefits such as ensuring that smaller states have a voice in the election and providing stability to the election process despite ongoing debates about its relevance and fairness the Electoral College remains a crucial part of the modern American political landscape 

Post a Comment

0 Comments