19 Contributors
in this discussion.
I think that, if a candidate gets over 50 percent of the popular vote, he or she should become president, regardless of what the electoral college has to say. If no one gets the majority vote, then bring the electoral college in to decide. But, right now, the large states have far too much say.
The electoral college worked well when the voting population possibly needed some guidance, because it didn't have access to all information about a candidate, but those days are long gone. Many people in the United States favor a direct vote apparatus that would do away with a system, which gives too much power to some states, and not enough to others.
I think the electoral college is an outdated method for electing our president. Today's elections often come down to a few thousand votes between candidates, and the electoral process skews the numbers. It is even possible that the candidate with the most votes does not end up winning. I think the electoral college should be eliminated.
The United States should adopt a modern method of electing it's President. The Electoral College was designed when communication traveled at the speed of a horse or sailing ship. With modern communications, it is possible to tally votes in a matter of minutes, once they are cast. Also, under the Electoral College system, it is possible for one candidate to receive the greatest popular vote, while the opponent receives the greatest Electoral College votes.
In this age of technology, there are many better ways to directly elect the President of the United States. We have seen a recent president who did not win the popular vote but was made president anyway. This should not be happening in this day and age. We could change it to one person, one vote and be much more democratic with this method. We can't afford to have more elections where a president does not have the popular vote.
Because of modern technology, the Electoral College is not needed. Under the current system, it's possible for a candidate to get elected with fewer popular votes than his opponent. It makes people feel like their vote doesn't count. We have the technology to count individual votes quickly by computer, so I think it's time to get rid of the Electoral College and go to popular vote.
The electoral college is a way of balancing the vote between urban and rural voters. The electoral college is determined by congressional districts and the better for the candidate. We are in an age where each voter is properly educated on each candidate and the popular vote should count as the main the tally for the person who represents our country.
I think that we have evolved in electronic vote counting past the need for the Electoral College. The Electoral College was put in place before as a means to make sure that we could collect public opinion and use it to simplify the presidential election. Since we can now collect votes, and broadcast them effectively we should elect our leaders based on popular vote-- the person with the most votes should win the election.
The US should adopted a new method of electing it's President based solely upon the concept of one person one vote. America was built on the foundation of the majority ruling, so to incorporate an election system that is by majority rule is equitable for the masses. A new system of this type would reduce a great deal of the political posturing that is presently seen.
Over time there have been many rules and procedures that the Founders did not intend and are not consistent with the spirit and intent of the original document. These accretions must be removed to restore the spirit of the constitution and return our country to its original intent. Corporations are not people, and as a lot of the original reason we began as a nation was to free ourselves from corporations, disallowing the personhood of corporations is a good place to start, as is our monetary supply.
The electoral college was originally set up in the compromise between the large states (New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia) and the smaller states (Delaware, Rhode Island) where everyone is represented equally (senate) regardless of population and also represented by population (representatives). This ensures that even small states like Wyoming that have fewer people in the entire state than in the city of Dallas Texas are still important enough to be campaigned for. This makes every part of the country important enough for candidates to consider and fight for. That is an important concept.
One of the reasons I like the United States is because people here are given a voice. In some countries, the people have no choice in the matter, when it comes to who is going to run the country. Each individual in the United States is given the chance to choose who they feel is most qualified, and the majority vote wins. I do not see how any other method would be better than that.
I think that the method we have right now of electing the nation's President works just fine. It allows people to have a say, and that's the way that it should work. We all need to be allowed to voice our opinion over who should be running our country. The voting method works just fine right now.
The electoral college is efficient in determining that each state has an appropriate number of votes for the population of the specific state, and is effective in ensuring that each person's individual vote still matters. Consequently, the opinion of one person is not lost in the sea of votes the size of the entire population, but rather effects the votes of the state in which the person resides.
There are many flaws with the electoral college model that the U.S. uses to elect presidents today. The main problem is that a candidate who wins the popular vote may not win enough electoral votes to be elected, as recently happened a few years ago. If we want to be true democrats, we should have a true democratic system where only the popular vote counts.
One vote per person allows the candidates to need to appeal to the "majority" of voters to be elected and to stay in power. It's laden with many flaws, however each US citizen has one chance to express their opinion regarding who is in office.
I know people get upset when their candidate does not win, but I believe the US voting system works. Those that don't vote should get out and do so if they do not like the results. When we vote, it is private and then tallied. No one knows who placed the vote just that the vote was received for that candidate. I support this.
The Electoral College has been the way we have elected our President for a long time, and for the most part is flawless. Some would say it would be unfair for someone to win the popular vote, but lose the election, and they may have a point. However, I believe the system is set up to account for those who for whatever reason do not vote. States with higher populations decide the election for the most part.
The US should not adopt a different method of electing its President because the current system works. Just a few times has the popular election and electoral college been in conflict. Without the electoral college, smaller states with less votes in a popular election would probably receive little to no attention and it would be granted to more populous areas and states.