Abolish the Electoral College Now!
Definition of the Problem:
The United States has a problem and just kicking it down the road isn’t enough anymore. The Electoral College was established in 1787 during a period in America’s history when the Founding Fathers had few models to draw on when they crafted the presidential election laws.
Since its establishment, the Electoral College has been the formal body that is used to elect the nation’s president and vice president rather than relying on a straight count of the nation-wide popular vote. The operation of the Electoral College is set forth in Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution which stipulates that the total of representatives and senators that each state has equals the number of "electors" it sends to the Electoral College (the District of Columbia has three electors in the Electoral College).
This means that when Americans vote in presidential elections, they are not voting directly for the candidate of their choice but rather for a slate of electors that is then tasked with casting their ballots in line with the voters’ preferences districts (Electoral college facts, 2020).
Unfortunately, this Rube Goldberg approach to electing the leader of the Free World has subverted the will of the American people more than once, and the potential for future recurrences is even greater due to politically motivated demographic manipulations...
References
Althouse, A. (2009, Spring). Electoral College reform: Deja vu. Northwestern University Law Review, 95(3), 993-999.
Black, E. (2012, October 14). Ten reasons why the Electoral College should be eliminated. Minneapolis Post. Retrieved from https://www.minnpost.com/eric-black-ink/2012/10/10-reasons-why-electoral-college-problem/.
Electoral college facts. (2020). U.S. House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives. Retrieved from https://history.house.gov/Institution/Electoral-College/Electoral-College/.
Pearson, C. (2020, March-April). Winner-take-all ignores the will of too many voters: The Electoral College should follow the popular vote. State Legislature, 46(2), 29-33.
Should we elect the president by popular vote? After hundreds of attempts to abolish Electoral College, opponents are promoting a plan to work around It. New York Times Upfront, 140(10), 22.
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