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Political Science
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Electoral College
Introduction
The Electoral College is the substantial part of the US constitution that proceeds to choose a President for the country. Through a vote in Congress, the president is elected in the United States. The electors of the Electoral College participate in selecting the president and the majority of votes by electors in favor of any Presidential candidate will make him or her win. Each candidate will have his or her own group of electors. Moreover, there is a proper process of selecting the electors that vary from state to state. Each elector has to vote in his or her own state, and then, in Congress, the votes of electors are counted in a joint session. On the other side, the popular vote does not count in the election for the US President. However, it represents the total number of votes a party receives. Sometimes some candidates receive more popular votes but could not make to get the seat due to the electoral process. A candidate regardless of the majority of popular votes is not eligible to be a president if he or she has less number of votes in the electoral process.
Likewise, the elections from the 21st century provide evidence that the majority of popular votes do not count in the selection of a president. It has become a matter of criticism for many of the activists that being a democratic system the popular votes have no value in deciding their President. There is a proposal presented by the National Popular Vote Inc. that aims to replace the old tradition. In this matter, the National Popular Vote Movement run by the same organization represents its own strategy, and it shares it on its website page. Comparatively studying the proposal of the National Popular Vote movement and the current process of the electoral process helps to identify which one is the best practice for the US in the current era.
Discussion
The National Popular Vote Inc. is working on a proposal that aims to include the popular vote in the Presidential elections throughout the country. It is a non-profit organization that analyses and educates the people about the plan they have presented about the popular vote nationwide. According to the bill introduced by the National Popular Vote, a candidate with the most number of popular votes in all states of the US and District of Columbia will be the president of the United States ("National Popular Vote," N.p). On the website of the National Popular Vote, it is mentioned that the bill has won 181 electoral votes and it needs further 89 more votes to be functional in the country ("National Popular Vote," N.p).
Moreover, the organization emphasizes that every vote in every state matters for electing a President of a democratic country. However, it claims that the presented bill will preserve the Electoral College and the authority of the State over elections. At the same time, it also highlights the shortcomings of the current system of “winner-take-all” of the electoral college that is practiced in almost the majority of the states. It makes a point that such systems have a negative influence on the governance of a nation and it has given an advantage to the people who cannot win the popular votes.
By favoring the popular votes in elections for president, the National Popular Vote for interstates is ineffective until it does not receive the majority of votes in the electoral process. It is an idea that does not require any constitutional amendment to get passed, and it does not touch the electoral process either. It suggests that most of the Electoral College votes for the candidate of presidential position should be given to the one who wins the most popular election throughout the country. This plan needs more signatures from the different states of land to be effective in the country. Completely replacing the older method can be done but it is impossible because of contemporary politics.
In comparison to the national popular vote, the electoral college violates some basic principles of equality of voters. It does not preserve the voter equality of every citizen by benefitting the smaller states only. It does not ensure the 14th amendment of the constitution that says “one person one vote” while electing a president for the country. On the other side, the Popular vote gives each voter an equal amount of power.
Secondly, the electoral college ignores what the general public wants by giving only 538 people to decide. A president is chosen being supported by a few people. Contrary to this, the national popular vote gives importance to the will of the majority. It is considered as a crucial step in the implementation of fairer democracy. It is a requirement for the democracy that every individual would freely vote for anyone.
Thirdly, the National Popular Vote encourages the participation of more number of people in choosing the president of the country. However, under the electoral college system, many of the people do not participate because they know that their vote does not count in electing the president. They can get the benefit of it only at local level but not at the national level. In case the National Popular Vote gets more importance, it will encourage the people to come out to support their candidate. However, the electoral college is the part of the US Constitution, and it would take time to get replaced. Therefore, the proposal represented by the National Popular Vote movement is the better option.
As per, the bill of the National Popular Vote ensures that the winner of the election is not only a winner of the electoral process but also a winner of the popular vote. It guarantees that the elected president will also be a winner of the popular vote. At the same time, the plan also gives an advantage to the candidates that they can campaign anywhere in the country instead of the "swing states" only.
Moreover, a democratic government listens to the voice of the majority. Likewise, the majority of the Americans favor the popular vote over the electoral college. In a survey conducted in 2016, about 54% voted in favor of changing the Electoral College to elect the US president (Dutton et al., N.p). They preferred the popular vote in comparison to the Electoral College. This reflects that most of the citizens are not happy with the current procedure and they want a change in the system. Therefore, the National Popular Vote proposal is an excellent option to implement in the country without interfering with the Electoral College.
Conclusions
In conclusion, the Electoral College is a constitutional process that selects a president of the country. However, it contradicts with the democratic system by do not give importance to the national popular vote. On the other side, the National Popular Vote Movement is working on a proposal that aims to include the popular vote in the Presidential elections throughout the country. According to the bill presented by the National Popular Vote, a candidate with the most number of popular votes in all states of the US and District of Columbia will be the president of the United States. After comparatively studying the Electoral College and National Popular Vote, the second one is a better option. There are several reasons to support the National Popular Vote Movement.
Works Cited
Dutton, Sarah, et al. "Poll: More Americans Believe Popular Vote Should Decide the President." Cbsnews.Com, 2016, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/poll-more-americans-believe-popular-vote-should-decide-the-president/. Accessed 28 Mar 2019.
"National Popular Vote". National Popular Vote, 2019, https://www.nationalpopularvote.com/.
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