Question

Imagine you are on a committee studying whether or not to make changes to the Electoral College system. What would you recommend? In a well-written paragraph, explain your position with at least three reasons.

Answer 1

Here are more reasons you could use to discuss why the electoral college should be replaced.

1) This system does not give equal power to states. For example, California has the most electoral votes with 55. Based on California's population, this means they receive roughly 1 electoral vote for every 700,000 people. However, a smaller state like Wyoming gets 1 electoral vote for every 195,000 people. Essentially, this shows that individual voters in Wyoming have more power per person in comparison to California.

2) Voters do not get a chance to pick who their electors are in the electoral college system. These individuals are an imperative part of this system, as they don't necessarily have to pick who the citizens voted for.

3) The presidency is usually determined by a handful of "swing states." Many states have a pattern where they consistently vote for a particular party. For example, California is usually won by the Democratic candidate while Texas is won by the Republican candidate. Due to these types of patterns, it usually comes down to a few states who will really determine the election. This makes citizens feel as if there vote is worthless unless they live in a swing state.

Answer 2

Some reasons for abolishing the Electoral College and introducing direct vote for the candidate are the following
1) voting would be more transparent and understandable to voters
2) voters might be more motivated to vote because their vote would have more direct influence
3) a sitation when a president did not get a majority of votes would not be possible (as it is now).