The Electoral College. Essay

The Electoral College. Essay

Tyler Sauer
Ms. Riley
Honors Expository Writing 1
13 Nov. 2009
The Electoral College
November, 2000: Governor George W. Bush just beat Al Gore in the presidential race. Many throughout the country believed Al Gore should be the winner because he won more popular votes. The Electoral College proved them wrong. Because Bush won more electoral points, he won the election. The Electoral College has been around as long as the office of the President of the United States has been.  It has seen us through two World Wars, countless economic downturns, and over fifty elections.  But it has to go.  America was founded on the democratic principles, yet under the Electoral College system, individuals’ vote is rendered useless.  With the exceptions of Nebraska and Maine, which each use a variation of the percentage-winning system, the candidate that wins the majority of votes in a state wins all of the electoral points assigned to that state. This makes candidates focus on states with large populations, ignoring the smaller states.  Every other governmental official voted into office is voted for by popular vote, so why not “the Leader of the Free World”?  The Electoral College is an outdated system created by the founding fathers over two hundred years ago.  It served a purpose at one point in time, but not anymore.  Modern society is much more informed than the farmers that made up post Revolutionary War America. The Electoral College played an integral part in the nation’s infancy not only because it was efficient but also because it allowed the qualified to vote for the best candidate for the nation as a whole.  But because of the system’s age, the landscape of the modern election, and the mishaps of the past, the Electoral College should be abolished. 
            For those who don’t know, the Electoral College, or E.C., has been America’s system for electing presidents for over 200 years.  The E.C. is composed of 538 Electors from around the country.  538...

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