As the 2020 Presidential Election Day approaches, voters all across the country already have, or will cast their vote for who they think deserves to be the President. All of them believe their vote will decide which candidate will win, and to a degree it does, but in reality it is the Electoral College votes that decide who will lead our country. Since the Electoral College delegates vote is based on their states majority decision, in an all or nothing vote (excluding Maine and Nebraska) a sizable amount of the population in each state is left with their vote being meaningless each year. In Idaho this may seem insignificant, for example if one party had 1000 more votes and received all four Electoral College votes, but in California, the difference of one vote can grant one party all 55 electoral college votes in that state. Although this system was implemented in order to balance out the votes across the country to prevent states with bigger populations from drowning out all other small ones, it is questionable whether or not it is truly benefiting our country. With all this is mind, should the United States continue the use of or abolish the Electoral College?
29 Comments
Aidan Adams
10/11/2020 06:46:14 pm
The electoral college is a waste of time. It is far quicker and more precise to take all of the votes and count them up as a country, rather than state. The electoral college can be repurposed into counting all of the nation’s votes, rather than just counting a singular states votes. This will allow a far more even playing field for the presidential candidates. In the end, the electoral college is a tool used to control the people by swaying votes since all of the votes of the losing party are drowned out completely by the party with more votes. We will probably not see this college going anywhere anytime soon.
Caden Caywood
10/11/2020 07:24:26 pm
I see the possibility that the electoral college could be used as a tool to sway votes a certain way. It would not take much to swing a few states the opposite way which could have a monumental effect on the election.
Blazen
10/11/2020 07:27:22 pm
Agreed. The electoral college is a massive waste of time. Instead of counting up singular states, just add all the states up together and have all the votes as one nation. With the votes being counted as individual states, it makes it seem like every state is independent rather than apart of a whole country.
Johnathon Simmons
10/11/2020 08:08:51 pm
The electoral college voices the people who didn't vote as well through a smaller portion of the country representing it's entire population. If it was one big number, none of those people would be represented.
Mackay Williams
10/25/2020 06:52:53 pm
I do agree the electoral college is a waste of time, with all the technology and the easy process to vote it would be just as easy to have each individual vote apart of the election. But do you think if there were a few states on board to kick out the electoral college we could eventually break the system?
Blazen
10/11/2020 07:21:06 pm
The electoral college is very ineffective way to vote. It would be much easier to take up every single vote across the country and bring them all together. As a country we count them all up anyways so it wouldn’t change much other than the person with the most votes overall would win no matter what. This is a lot more fair to each candidate and the entire country. If the “people” are really supposed to be choosing the president then what’s the point if sometimes the candidate with less votes wins. The electoral college doesn’t benefit the United States in any way.
Caden Caywood
10/11/2020 07:39:04 pm
I agree that the moment the election depends on a small select group of people, it is no longer the people’s vote. Even though the people’s vote influences the electoral college, it is not a true democratic election.
Dillon
10/11/2020 07:43:45 pm
Without an electoral college states have way less power. The people do chose the president by electing people to represent them. Those representatives then vote in favor of those who voted.
Will
10/11/2020 08:00:33 pm
Without the implication of an electoral college states, especially Idaho, will be deprived of an equal opportunity to vote. This will ultimately lead to states with concentrated residences to have the upper hand during elections.
Sam
10/11/2020 08:07:07 pm
The electoral college may be beneficial if the vote is by state, but I agree that popular vote would introduce a much simpler method of choosing a president.
Mackay
10/25/2020 06:48:46 pm
There is no doubt the voting process is no longer the people who make the decision. Only some of the people. I agree that the electoral college is not a benefit.
Dillon
10/11/2020 07:39:50 pm
The electoral college is completely necessary when electing a president. Without an electoral college individual states lose power substantially. Especially from the point of view of an Idaho citizen the electoral college is needed. We don’t want the millions of California residents overriding the few Idaho residents’ votes.
Blazen
10/11/2020 07:46:20 pm
This is a good point. But wouldn’t it make sense that every single vote would count? With the way the electoral college is right now a decent amount of votes don’t even count. I still believe if we have all votes counted up together instead of as single states, Idaho votes would still contribute to who wins the presidency.
Aidan Adams
10/11/2020 07:56:43 pm
Yes true but oh well there are more Americans in California than Idaho.
Sam
10/11/2020 08:11:37 pm
If we had a system that was comprised of individual voting power instead of through a state, don't you think this would ultimately create a more "fair" opportunity for voters? In other words, we know that Idaho will never have enough votes to override California or most states for that matter, so I can see how people in Idaho would have a difficult time voting if they knew their state had little effect in the electoral college.
Will
10/11/2020 08:02:18 pm
I agree that our voices as Idaho citizens will be muted by more populous states, it is only for the electoral college that we will be able to maintain a level playing field.
Johnathon Simmons
10/11/2020 08:11:28 pm
The electoral college does permit the freedoms our country needs. Without it, a tyrannical majority could easily change anything and everything.
Will
10/11/2020 07:43:14 pm
The electoral college must remain as is, for the reason that it creates an equal opportunities for all states.
Dillon
10/11/2020 07:45:38 pm
Equal opportunity for all states as you say is very important. If it changed states votes’ would mean nothing.
Will (the full version)
10/11/2020 07:57:25 pm
The electoral college must remain as is, for the reason that it creates equal opportunities for all states. Disrupting this format for voting will promote populous states to become power houses during the upcoming election. Being that we are from Idaho, a state with is significantly low amount of residences compared to the rest of the nation, we must encourage the idea of electoral college and the continuation of its principles. Additionally the notion that the citizens votes are unheard during a presidential election is a falsified statement, as if we were to rely on individual votes their impact on the outcome would be less profound.
Aidan Adams
10/11/2020 07:58:30 pm
Well said, short and to the point. I like how much effort this comment had in it. This comment is so true it doesn’t even need evidence and examples to back it up. Truly top notch.
Will
10/11/2020 08:03:39 pm
Bruh chill vol. 2 just dropped.
Sam
10/11/2020 08:01:01 pm
In the political environment we live in today, the concept of the Electoral College is one that is becoming outdated. When the country was still young and this process was constructed, popular vote was not a viable option especially during Civil War times because of conflicts such as the 3/5ths compromise and the fact that candidates were purely voted for based on their monetary value instead of their values and beliefs. Now that we have a system of distinct political parties and individual voting rights, we should conduct popular votes so that citizens can truly understand how their vote counts.
Johnathon Simmons
10/11/2020 08:15:03 pm
If people still think their vote doesn't count because of electoral colleges, they need to go get educated. You're example of majority rule in 3/5th compromise is great. A bad group of people could get the majority and make bad decisions. That still applies. People are still inherently going to make bad decisions and are still, partially, inherently bad.
Eli
10/11/2020 09:50:58 pm
I like the idea of that each persons vote counts but i know that if this happened that some of us in smaller states will not be able to effectively speak our mind.
Johnathon Simmons
10/11/2020 08:05:56 pm
The Electoral college is essential to our democracy. It provides every voter with a voice whether they vote or not. It requires politicians to campaign across the nation not to just the places with the most voters. It also makes it harder to steal an election. The electoral college makes it harder to tell which states will matter the most and where to steal the votes from. In a pure, majority rules, democracies, one side of the country can easily tyrannize the slight minority. The founding fathers purposefuly avoided this.
Eli
10/11/2020 09:46:09 pm
The founding fathers while some many say where old and that their methods are outdated, knew what they were doing so that they didn't want another King George situation on their hands.
Eli
10/11/2020 09:39:06 pm
The electoral college was formed from a compromise, some wanted each state to have one vote while others wanted what is more of a popular idea, that each persons vote counts. So they obviously compromised so that the small states could still have their say and not be drowned out by the larger populations. Without the electoral college one way of life or the other would have their way, this way all peoples options have a chance to be heard.
Mackay Williams
10/18/2020 06:20:23 pm
The electoral college is an inefficient way of voting. As Caden mentions “...the difference of one vote can grant one party all 55 electoral college votes...” there is no doubt the election is already close in numbers. If we were to vote without the electoral college and focus all on the people, those few close counts from each state have the ability to change the presidency. Not only that, but for example giving California 55 votes and some states only two immediately changes the entire difference of the election. The electoral college should be abolished, it’s causing a great difference in the way the people are voting. Leave a Reply. |
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