Congratulations, you won the popular vote by 2.5 million people, but unfortunately lost the election. Unfortunately, there have been several candidates in the history of the United States that had to deal with the fact that he or she lost an election, but won the popular vote and they can thank the Electoral College for their odd loss / win. The Electoral College consists of 538 electors, an electorate for every member of the House of Representatives and two for each Senate seat for every state. A candidate must win the majority of the electorate votes of 270 to win the presidency. Although there are numerous reasons to keep the Electoral College such as favoring all areas of the country and appealing to informed voters, the Electoral College has failed many candidates and is too risky for the United States of American to continue.
Reasons to keep the Electoral College
1. Popular Vote would favor big cities
The Electoral College is designed to spread votes among the United States equally and not allowing a few areas determine a winner. Eliminating the Electoral College and employing a popular vote to determine the winner of an election would favor the few large cities in the country. The rural areas of a state and the smaller states would be ignored if the United States decided to eliminate the Electoral College because candidates will cater and focus his or her attention to the urban voters in the large cities. The small-town issues would not be of any concern as the attention would turn to focusing on the higher populations of the urban centers of the United States (Gary Gregg Citation). In addition, candidates need to focus on areas located within swing states.
2. Importance of Swing States
Every state, but two, in America utilizes a winner-take-all method in which a candidate is awarded all of the electoral votes if the majority of the people vote in favor of a particular candidate. With this notion in mind, candidates tend to focus his or her campaign efforts on these swing states. The swing states are extremely important as the voters in swing states tend to pay closer attention to the campaign. There is a strong attention to detail and listening among these voters and they play a large role in deciding the election. Having heavily devoted voters determine the election is essential due to the notion that they are the most thoughtful voters because they receive the most information because of how much time the candidates spend in the swing states. (Richard Posner)
Reasons to eliminate the Electoral College
1. Loser of the popular vote could win the election
In the past sixteen years, two out of the five elections showed a candidate winning the popular vote, but losing the election. It is a strong reality that a loser for the popular vote could win an election and this has happened on multiple occasions in the past few years, specifically in the 2000 election and as recent as the 2016 election (Eric Black). The 2016 campaign shows Hillary Clinton have a larger margin of 2.5 million popular votes over Donald Trump, but Trump still won the Electoral College and the Presidency (Jeremy Stahl). Having a margin of over 2.5 million votes is not small and congress should be urged to act. The Electoral College also distorts presidential campaigns.
2. Distorts Presidential Campaigns
When a candidate campaigns for the Presidency, he or she focuses the campaign on a few states which causes candidates to right off over 40 states that he or she understands that they cannot win or cannot lose (Eric Black). It is essential for candidates to focus their campaign on all Americans and should be forced to visit every state as a way to reach as many people as possible. Thanks to the Electoral College, it makes the campaign a little easier for candidates because they have the ability to write off some states while also understanding the notion that they will win particular states. This leaves people out in small areas of states, not allowing everyone’s voice to be heard. Many people feel that their vote does not matter because votes in the Electoral College are not distributed according to the population.
3. Electoral College votes are not distributed according to the population
According to Eric Black, “The Electoral College system further distorts the one-person, one-vote principle of Democracy.” The Electoral College is organized so that every state receives an electoral vote for every delegate to the House of Representatives while also receiving an additional two “bonus” electors for the two senators. This idea is unfavorable as the smaller states are receiving higher levels of representation than the bigger states. There is evidence from the 2010 census that shows the distribution of the House to show an individual residing in Wyoming has more than triple the encumbrance in electoral votes as an individual in the state of California. There is a strong level of unfairness in utilizing the Electoral College because people are not represented in an equal fashion. The electoral college should be amended to allocate electoral votes on a population basis; by doing so, the system would be more fair and much more democratic. (Eric Black) TRANSITION
4. Faithless Electors
There is strong evidence to support the idea that electors of the Electoral College have been loyal to his or her state; however, it is important to understand that ultimately, an electorate can vote any way he or she chooses. These “faithless electors” have complete autonomy to choose whomever he or she wants by voting against the will of the people. Since the inception of the Electoral College, there have been a total of 157 faithless electors. More than half of those faithless electors voted against the people on their personal initiative (Tyler Lewis). Understanding the notion that an elector can vote for whomever he or she pleases is unfathomable and a risk that the United States should not take. It is of upmost importance that the Electoral College be reconsidered and Constitutionally amended to support a popular vote as the winner.
Conclusion
The Electoral College has been around since the inception of the United States and has proven to be successful, but there are too many situations in which the usage of the Electoral College has failed not only a candidate, but the American people. Allowing everyone’s “voice” to be heard in a state and allowing the most informed voters to choice the President of the United States are two extremely valid reasons to continue the Electoral College. The Electoral College has failed too many times to continue and should be changed to favor the popular vote of the American people. Numerous candidates have won the popular vote, but lost the presidency and candidates distort their presidential campaign, but most importantly, the United States deploys an enormous risk with Faithless Electors. Understanding the many failures of the Electoral College should urge congress to make a Constitutional Amendment that supports the change from having an Electoral College to supporting the popular vote among all Americans.