Question

Due to the way the Electoral College is set up, it’s possible to win the presidency without winning the majority of popular votes. Because of this, a debate has sprung up as to ways to possibly fix this system (assuming it needs to be fixed).

What arguments can be made for getting rid of the Electoral College?
What arguments could be made for keeping it as is?

Answer 1

first we should be know that the term electoral college does not appear in the Constitution but the Article number II in Constitution and the 12th Amendment refer to electors, but not to the “electoral college.

so for make any change should be necessary to pass a Constitutional amendment to change

so over 700 proposals have been introduced in Congress but no body have fared well since 200 YERS

THE MOST arguments can be made for getting rid of the Electoral College was from The American Bar And they said it was archaic and ambiguous.

arguments could be made for keeping it as is Since the Electoral College process is part of the original design of the U.S. Constitution it would be necessary to pass a Constitutional amendment to change this system.

Answer 2

Hello again! It looks like we're having a great debate here!

Let's first talk about the arguments that we can make in order to keep the electoral college as it is.

• Using electors instead of the popular vote.

Our Founding Fathers thought this was the best way to safeguard against the uneducated vote, as this was a method designed to put the final decision in those who had the most relevant information for the country's best interests.

It was an attempt to prevent the states with the largest population to have an advantage over those who had smaller populations, and to balance the will of the American people against the 'tyranny of the majority', which is further discussed in the next point:

• Ensuring a country decision vs a majority decision.

Let's imagine that the Electoral College system was different. This would turn into politicians spending all of their effort in the most populated countries in the US, and give little atention to the smaller areas. Farmers in Iowa or Ohio factory workers would be completely ignored.

• Guaranteed certainty of outcome.

In the same way as it happened with President Nixon in 1968, or President Clinton in 1992, both candidates won the most electoral votes while receiving just 42% of the popular vote. If elections were based on popular vote, any candidate could receive the highest number of votes without actually obtaining a partial majority.

So, let's now talk about the reasons to change the actual voting system:

• The system is no longer relevant due to our modern technology.

Our day-to-day has changed drastically, and now we have powerful tools that create better statistics that our Founding Fathers could have not foreseen. The technology that we have these days allows voters to have the necessary information to make an educated vote, and we can use and manage that information in more efficient ways.

• The Electoral College ignores the will of the people.

There are over 300 million people in the US. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by over a million voters, however, she still lost the elections. Does this make any sense? Why did she lose the election, if more people wanted her to be elected? That's because, at the very end, only 538 people choose the final outcome.

• Swing States.

Both Democrat and Republican parties can count on winning the elections in certain states. Let's take California for instance, where there is a heavy inclination towards the Democratic party. Or Indiana, where the exact opposite happens. Because of this, candidates only have to worry about certain states where there is a chance that voters go one way or the other, and there is no guarantee for the final outcome.

There is indeed a lot that can be said about the Electoral College, and we can only wait to see what the future holds, as these are times of great change and new ideas.

Have an excellent day!