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Electoral College: America's Retrograde Institution

By , Astoria, NY
When voters go into the voting poll every four years to elect our president most of them think the decision is in their hands. Voters think that they are directly electing our president and that the USA is one of the most democratic countries in the world. Voters don’t realize that they don’t elect their president directly. Instead there is something called the Electoral College. This institution is who really elects the president. This is why our country is not a direct democracy. The citizens of this nation do not elect the president even though they are the ones who are directly affected by the decision.

The Electoral College is an institution made up of 538 members. These members are responsible for choosing the president of the United States of America. The members of this institution are usually of the elite and are very affluent within their social circles. The identities of these members are unknown. Each state gets a certain amount of members based on population. Therefore if a state has a large population they will have a large amount of electoral votes. The electoral college chooses our president because in reality the popular doesn’t count at all. The presidential candidate must win a majority of the votes of the electoral college to win the presidency. The majority of votes is 270. Once the candidate has won these votes they are the elected president. Most states use a winner takes all basis. This means that the winner of the state will take all the electoral votes. Other states don’t follow this rule. A voter can change their mind when they are asked to vote. A voter can also abstain from voting. Many voters in the past have done this. In conclusion, the electoral college is the sole institution that decides the president of the United States.

The Electoral College has many weaknesses. Even though we are led to believe that this is a solid institution, it’s more corrupt than we can imagine. One of the weaknesses of the electoral college is that a candidate that wins the popular vote may not win the presidency because of the electoral vote. This is because of the winner takes all feature of the electoral college. When a candidate wins a state they win all the electoral votes. This is what happened in the 2000 election between Al Gore and Bush. Another weakness of the electoral college is that if no candidate receives the majority of the electoral votes then the House of Representatives will elect the president. This is a weakness because the biggest decision for a nation has to go through not only the electoral college but also to the House. The electoral college has many more weaknesses. The worst part is that Americans have been enabling this because they do not ask for a change. Overall, the electoral college presents many weaknesses that need to be overcome.

In my opinion, the electoral college should be abolished because it enables corruption in this country. The electoral college hinders what a real democracy should be, one where the people elect the president. The governed should have the sole right to elect their president.There should be no third parties involved. Why should a chosen group elect the president? What clue do they have the people want? It’s ridiculous that in this time we have this sort of a system. This way of electing the president is simply a joke. This doesn’t make a direct democracy or make us go forward instead. The whole system is corrupt and the people are not doing anything about it. Another reason why the Electoral College should be abolished is that it doesn’t make it easy for a third party to be recognized. The Republican and Democratic parties control our government and this institution makes it almost impossible for any third party to emerge on the scene. This makes our government very weak. Other parties can have great ideas but they will never heard by the citizens. The Electoral College is like a slap in the face to democracy. It not only makes a mockery of democracy but it also treats the governed as complete idiots. It’s doesn’t make any sense that 538 people decide the fate of millions. Honestly, if the electoral college is abolished we would have a much fairer government. We would have a government where the ideas of many great people will be heard.

The Electoral College is a group of 538 members who really elect the president of the United States. This institution makes a complete joke of the great nation we are and the even greater nation we could be. The electoral college hinders any possibility of a direct democracy. Americans must take action now. We cannot let the big guns take advantage of us. We have been taken as a joke for too long and it’s time we finally stand up and abolish this completely absurd and corrupt institution.

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This article has 4 comments. Post your own now!

toto said...
Mar. 18, 2013 at 6:33 pm
toto said...
Mar. 18, 2013 at 6:31 pm
Mar. 17, 2013 at 10:23 pm
This should have been published! At least an Editors Choice!
Mar. 17, 2013 at 10:19 pm
Really enjoyed reading this article! Finally, another teen who is aware of this insanity :)
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