The Electoral College:

One Major Problem

Reesa Bergel

Fig. 1 Kristin Eberhard on November 28, et al. “The Electoral College Trumped the People. Again.” Sightline Institute, 9 Feb. 2017, www.sightline.org/2016/11/28/the-electoral-college-trumped-the-people-again/.

Problem with the

Electoral College

The chart to the left shows the winner of the popular vote vs the winner of the election. There is a clear problem with the Electoral College. The winner of the popular vote should always win the election because that person is the candidate the people chose. While this usually happens, there have been five exceptions --all from the Republican party.

Five candidates have won the popular vote but lost the election, two of which have been won since 2000. Both times they were won by a Republican candidate. The previous three candidates have also been members of the Republican party. No democratic candidate has ever won this way. The Electoral College should elect the candidate that the people have voted for.

Creating a Better Fitting Candidate

The electoral college is outdated. The Founding Fathers created the Electoral College to prevent uneducated voters from electing a candidate that is unfit. While this was a good idea at the time, now we don’t need it. Citizens have much more access to information regarding policy and about each candidate. Elizabeth Warren has stated that the Electoral College reduces the importance of individuals votes. “Everyone’s vote should count equally — in every election — no matter where they live.” Right now citizens votes in deep red or blue states like California and Mississippi don’t carry as much weight as citizen’s from swing states such as Iowa and Ohio.

Presidential candidates will go to the swing states and skip over the predetermined states. If each candidate had to visit each state, it would create a more well rounded candidate. Candidates would not have as much knowledge of the states that would be handed to them based on party. Each candidate may have some idea of the votes they are likely to get, but the votes would be more undetermined than now.

President Trump won the election through the Electoral College. in 2016. Above is a graph shows his approval rating in 2017.

Fig. 2 McCarthy, Niall. “Donald Trump's Approval Rating Has Hit A New Low [Infographic].” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 20 Mar. 2017, www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2017/03/20/donald-trumps-approval-rating-has-hit-a-new-low-infographic/.

Fig. 3 “Electoral College vs. Popular Vote in the United States.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 23 Oct. 2020, www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/electoral-college-vs-popular-vote-in-the-united-states-electoral-college-vote-donald-trump-candidate-presidency-b1256092.html.

In 2016 without the Electoral College Hillary Clinton would have won the election. "It is hard to defend a system in which we have a president who lost the popular vote by three million votes," says Senator Bernie Sanders. Donald Trump won the election by seventy seven electoral votes. The election system should not allow the candidate who was the clear winner of the popular vote to lose the electoral college by such a large margin. The winner of the popular vote is the candidate chosen by the people.

Electoral College vs Popular Vote

Once the Electoral College has been abolished, there must be a new way to elect the president. Electing the presidential candidate elected by popular vote is the best-fitting option. The candidate with the most votes would win. Local lower level elections are done this way. Citizens votes go directly to the candidate instead of being funneled into one vote based on district.

The only change in the election system since 1804 was proposed in 1969. The proposal was for a “direct election of a President and Vice President, requiring a run off when no candidate received more than 40 percent of the vote. The resolution passed the House in 1969, but failed to pass the Senate.” After having two candidates win the popular vote, but not the election over the past 20 years we must reconsider this proposal or one similar. Fifteen states have agreed to disband the electoral college giving this proposal a leg up.

Fig. 4 Bump, Philip. “Analysis | Democrats Calling to Abolish the Electoral College Should Not Be Surprising.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 20 Mar. 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/03/19/democrats-calling-abolish-electoral-college-should-not-be-surprising/.

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