What Is the Electoral College - Essay Example

Electoral College is a body of 538 members which include, senators, president, vice president, electors, representatives, and others. The most popular members of society that are elected publically and that take part in electing the president and vice president in the United States of America gather to form Electoral College. The citizens of the United States of America cast their votes for the members of the Electoral College who later on vote for the president and vice president. It is quite true that voting for the president and vice president does not take place directly by the citizens but by the members of the Electoral College, who are elected by the citizens of the United States of America. It is necessary for a candidate to get at least 270 votes from the members of the Electoral College in order to win. When there is a tie among the electors, the decision right is given to the House of Representatives for the president’s selection.

The different states of America have different electoral rights in terms of allocation of Electoral College members according to their size and other relevant details. The electors that are chosen for the elections considering the office of the president are selected by means of their services and faith in the party system. There are parties in the USA such as the Democratic and Republic that present their candidates for presidential elections that are onwards elected by the members of the Electoral College. The electors have no faith-related policy. It is not necessary that the electors will play a fair game by respecting the voters’ choice. They can make their own decisions. Such electors are called “faithless electors”.

There are some criticisms on the working and procedure of the Electoral College and many suggest that Electoral College should be abolished. This is not something new; the proposal of eradication of the Electoral College is submitted again and again. Currently, the proposal of the abolishment of the Electoral College is presented by Bill Nelson, who is a senator from Florida. According to Nelson, the presidents of America who are elected till recent times are not the people who are famous among the masses but those who are elected by the electors of the Electoral College on the basis of their own wishes. People win not through popular votes but through the elector's wills.

It is informed that the voters cannot have equal rights if all the states are given equal rights of voting because the numbers of voters are not the same in different states. It is informed by Jeff Jacoby that the “Electoral college was designed to preserve the fundamental federal nature” of the United States of America. He further informs that America is a nation of States not of autonomous individuals and he regards Electoral College as a good system of elections. Some critics regard that Electoral College does not support a purely democratic process.

The Electoral College enables the candidates to conduct a campaign on a State basis while on the other hand, this can be seen as a disadvantage that the candidates are restricted on a State basis. The supporters of the Electoral College consider it as an opportunity that is helpful for the candidates while others regard it as problematic for a democratic system. A weakness of the Electoral College system is that the members of the Electoral College appear to favor the Democratic Party and not the Republicans, which is a kind of favoritism and cannot be regarded as fully democratic.

Electors from Electoral College do not always select the presidential candidate who has the popular vote, which is quite evident by the continued presidency of Bush who does not have the popular vote anymore. The supporters of the Electoral College system consider that due to this system, the elected president has some geographical value and power on the basis of which, he is selected. Another benefit of the Electoral College system is that the minorities of the United States of America get their full rights for voting and to bring a change. The Electoral College system is also liked because this system allows the candidacy of two parties that is a sort of encouragement for the parties. The members that come up enjoy the favor of members of the Electoral College.

The supporters of the Electoral College system regard the system as beneficial as all the elected presidents of the United States of America proved to be a success for the country but the opposition party regards this system as imperfect and with flaws. The interests of all the states are secured by the Electoral College procedure. It keeps the United States of America as a federal country. The elected candidate through the Electoral College System is a legitimized winner because he/she is elected by the already elected members of the Electoral College. The supporters of the Electoral College present the above arguments for the continuation of the Electoral College and also regard the direct elections as a disaster. Read More