Revision of the Electoral College

The Electoral College is the system in place in the United States that is used to elect the president every four years. Created by the founding fathers, the Electoral College was designed to avoid giving a large amount of power to the federal government by allowing the people to have a say in the election. However, because the founding fathers also did not believe the general public had enough knowledge to elect the best official for the office, they wanted to avoid leaving the election up to a popular vote. It was much harder for information to circulate in the 18th century, so the founding fathers wanted a system that allowed well-informed people to make the final decision for such a vital position. The Electoral College was meant to give power to the people, but only a limited amount. The main concern that led to the creation of the Electoral College is now obsolete. We now live in the information age, where any information regarding the candidates that isnt thrown in your face, is one click away. Because the population is able to make informed decisions for themselves, the Electoral College, as it was originally intended, has become outdated. However, this does not mean that the system has become obsolete. The main concern is now no longer an issue, but the Electoral College also has several benefits that do not relate to the knowledge of voters. Because the Electoral College helps to maintain the two-party system and helps to decrease the chance that a winner will be difficult to determine, it is not completely outdated. The Electoral College system is not a perfect system. It should be revised from its current state to give more power to the people in elections. The system should be revised so that not all of the electoral votes of a state go to the candidate who received a majority in that state. This could help increase voter turnout by making people in a state dominated by one party feel more represented. For example, the electoral votes from California almost always are received by the democratic candidate. However, if the system was revised, republican supporters in the state might have their votes better represented if a few of the electoral votes could go to the republican candidate. This revision would have the same effect on urban voters in Texas, who often vote for the democratic candidate, despite the state almost always giving its electoral votes to the republican candidate. If the Electoral College system was revised, more voters would have their voice represented in elections.

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