Effects of The Electoral College - Essay Example

Electoral College Some elements undeniably expose the undemocratic nature of the constitution such as the election of the president which is Article II section I that empowers the application of Electoral College process. This part of the constitution gives every state a figure of electors relative to its representation in Congress to determine who the president is without using the popular vote. In the 2000 general elections, the Judiciary helped in making one of the difficult decisions by declaring George Bush the winner of the closely contested election. After carefully considering the interpretation of the law on representation, the justices decided that Bush would be president of the USA. According to the constitution, the candidate who wins the 270 of the Electoral College votes becomes the president. The rule of law protects the peace and freedom of the USA citizens. Americans and the world at large were desperately waiting to know the next man who would occupy the white house. After Americans voted wisely and peacefully, they still waited for more days to know who their president would be. The delay of the results was not voters’ problem but the systems put in place. Most Americans went to sleep knowing that Al Gore had won the presidency on the night of November 7, 2000. This essay tries to figure out the effects of Electoral College System. Although Americans vote, the popularity of their vote may not be reflected in the outcome of who become the president and the vice president of the USA. The existence of Electoral College Vote system has ensured that only candidates who win the majority Electoral College votes ascend to power. The Electoral College vote system comprises of 538 electors who determine the occupant of the white house. The presidency of the USA is won by whoever gets 270 of the electors’ votes. Electoral College votes vary in different states and the winner of a state’s majority votes wins all the college electoral votes of that particular state (Keyssar Web). In Bush vs Al Gore case, Al Gore had won in the popular votes, but there was a fierce disagreement of who won the Florida state. Florida State was to decide the winning candidate in terms of electoral votes. Bush won the majority votes in Florida by being declared popular vote winner in that state. This case was later taken to the Florida court, which ordered a recount, but there was a problem on the method to be used in recounting. However, the case was later taken to the US Supreme Court, which nullified the recount process and later made unsatisfactory decision the ultimate winner was George W. Bush. Considering that even the US Supreme Court justices were divided on this matter, it is unclear whether the decision made was political or was strictly based on judicial grounds. Thanks to Al Gore who conceded defeat having realized that based on the Supreme Court decision, he only managed 266 electoral votes against Bush’s 271. The Electoral College system is believed to be catering for the minority and special group interests. A candidate must consider these groups since their votes may be a determinant in winning a particular state’s popular votes hence college electoral votes. In addition, the college electoral votes promotes political stability by allowing only two major parties to exist and suppressing the emergence of other small parties that may hinder quick decision making by the voters. Moreover, the college electoral vote system ensures that the president enjoys sufficient and well-distributed support in governance. The college electoral vote system reduces the chances of election conflict between the two major parties hence ease decision-making process (Keyssar Web). However, the college electoral vote system is undemocratic since the majority decision is not taken into consideration. Most states have their clear favorites such as the blue states and the red states hence less attention paid to such states. A candidate only concentrates their campaigns on undecided states. There is great hindrance of third party, which may be having better policies than the two major parties but fears competition in the college electoral vote system. The system also discourages voters from voting especially in the states with clear favorites. In my opinion, I would suggest that the majority should always carry the day by scrapping the college electoral vote system and allowing democratic system to prevail (Keyssar Web). Corporations and unions are not hindered from spending money on their interested candidates. This was a court ruling on the Citizens United case. Money tends to enhance mobility of politicians thus popularizing them. However, the effect of money is not great considering that most states have clear favorites. The corporations and unions are greatly affected by the political outcome, at some point they may think that their interests are not presented. Although a candidate may be popular, the influence he has amongst the popular states is very much important. This may demoralize the institutions interested in these candidates. Whoever wins the popular votes should be regarded the winner since the process involves everyone’s participation. Electoral college votes is a system put in place perhaps to bring harmony amongst the contenders but it is not a democratic tool as such. Democratically, every vote must count unlike the college electoral system which disregards individual’s democratic power. In the case of Al Gore vs. Bush, Al gore could have carried the day because he obviously won the popular votes. The implication was that many Americans preferred Al Gore to Bush. In fact, even the US Supreme court is not supposed to rule on such kind of cases because the Supreme Court occupants are not democratically elected. The main thing should be that let every vote count and most people will be happy in whichever state they are in because their votes will directly count (Keyssar Web). For every election there must be a winner or loser and even the presidential candidates always have this in mind. The notion of blue and red state is not democratic in anyway. People should identify themselves with their country instead of political party affiliation during elections. If a presidential candidate democratically loses through a popular vote then the loser should concede defeat and support the winner. Winning through popular vote simply means the winner was preferred to the other candidates. In most cases, the popular candidate wins with a bigger margin except for few cases of hotly contested elections. Whoever wins or loses through popular votes must positively receive the news regardless of the candidate’s expectation. There is no point of hiding behind the Electoral College process when the popular vote count disregards you. Works Cited Keyssar, Alexander.”It’s Time to Retire the Electoral College.” Cognoscenti, 6 Nov, 2012. Web. 22 Jul, 2013 . Read More