Electoral College Reform.

Essay by xnike315xHigh School, 10th gradeA+, November 2003

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The Electoral College : An Archaic and Obsolete Institution?

The election of the President and Vice-President is the most highly anticipated and prestigious election of our Republic. It is difficult to find another election that could possibly compare in importance and popularity as that of the presidential election. This election encompasses by far the greatest electorate and the most direct importance to this huge electorate. It is a four-year anticipation in which hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on presidential campaigns, and people's dreams are either shattered or realized. This election defines us as Americans and the democracy that we live in. Or does it? To truly define our democracy would it not encompass the views of the masses? Would it not be a determination of who the more popular candidate is among the people of our fair Republic?

It is neither of these. Instead the premise of the presidential election is that of the Electoral College.

This method of electing the president, included in the structural foundation of our government within the United States Constitution, is the fundamental flaw within the process of presidential elections. It has been one of the most controversial institutions of modern American government since the ratification of the Constitution in 1789. Since the ratification of the Constitution a total of "" amendments to the Electoral College have been proposed before congress. This is indicative of congressional discontentment with the current Electoral system. Congressional action aside, the manifestations of the 2000 Election have left the American public in question of this system's purpose in contemporary American government.

It seems pertinent that we must return the presidential election to the citizens of the republic. The only means by which this is legitimate is by use of direct election. Direct election of the President and Vice...