Andrew Monette

English 1010
7/23/16
An Analysis of the Electoral College
The United States has evolved very much from where it was at its inception.
Revolutions, Supreme Court rulings, civil movements, information revolutions, and
presidential elections have shaped the nation as we know it today. The industrial
revolution gave birth to many governmental agencies. The civil rights movement led to
many changes on the societal level. Technological advancements led to different ways to
teach future generations. One aspect of American life that has not changed through the
evolution of the nation is Americas presidential election system. The United States uses
what is called the Electoral College to elect its president. The Electoral College is not a
place, but a process that is used to elect the president. It was established by the founding
fathers in the constitution as a compromise between a vote by congress and popular vote
of citizens. It consists of 538 electors and a majority of 270 votes are required to elect a
president. Each state is allocated a certain number of electors that are usually decided by
the candidates political party. (National Archives and Records) In recent years the
college has come under scrutiny as being an outdated system, especially after the
infamous Bush v Gore election. Many experts are proposing reform of the college, while
other groups such as National Popular Vote are calling for the abolishment of the college.
When considering which option is best for the future of the nation, one must first
understand how the college works, as well as the history and meaning behind it.
During the first Constitutional Convention of the United States, several methods
of electing the president were taken into consideration. One such method was for
Congress or the state legislatures to elect the president. However there was concern that

this would cause political bargaining and corruption, as well as undermining state
powers. Another solution was for a direct popular vote. This was rejected because they
feared that voters would not have sufficient information about candidates from outside
their state and people would just vote for someone they are familiar with. According to
William Kimberling, Deputy Director of the Federal Election Commission, under this
system, the choice of president would always be decided by the largest, most populous
States with little regard for the smaller ones. (Kimberling) The first design of the
college, described in Article II, Section 1 of the constitution, was a compromise between
these two systems. Each state was allocated a number of electors equal to the number of
its senators, which is two, plus the number of representatives which varied with states
population. Choosing the electors is left to the states. Members of Congress and federal
employees are prohibited from being electors. Each elector is required to cast two votes
for president and at least one had to be for someone outside their state. The person with
the most electoral votes was elected president, the person with the second greatest would
become vice president. This was designed without the concept of political parties in
mind. This lasted four elections, but changed when political parties entered the arena.
Now the parties offer a list of individuals that are loyal to their candidate to the states.
The voters would then vote for each individual in favor of that candidate. This has
caused some confusion in the past. One of the most notable issues was in the Bush v.
Gore election in 2000. It led to many standards in voting, such as the Dimple standard
and the Two Corner standard and even led to a Supreme Court ruling. According to a
CNN article, Gore likely would have won a statewide recount of all undervotes and
overvotes. After 36 days the Supreme Court ruled to stop the statewide hand count
(Payson-Denney). Gore had won the popular vote but Bush was awarded the electoral
votes. The results of this election upset many people, who accused the college of being
archaic and outdated, as well as accusing the Supreme Court of handing Bush the
election. Due to this public outrage, many experts have offered solutions to reform the

American election system as it is today.

The United States is very familiar with the concept of reforms. The school system,
state governments, state colleges, and many governmental agencies have all been
reformed in the past. Many citizens are calling for the reform of the Electoral College.
Perhaps the most popular alternative to the college would be the Electoral District
system. In this system, a state is divided into districts, the popular vote winner on that
district is awarded one electoral vote. This is the case in Maine, albeit not the original
plan. The Democratic state representative named Glenn Starbird introduced a bill in the
house that would have divided Maine into four districts, matching Maines four electoral
votes. Ultimately, the proposal from the Republican representative beat the Starbird
proposal. Today, Maine awards two electoral votes to the winner of the statewide popular
vote, and one for winning each of Maines two congressional districts (Bugh, 131). Some
argue that this system is not ideal, as Gary Bugh does in his book, Electoral College
Reform: Challenges and Possibilities. Bugh is in favor of the Starbird proposal, as he
believes that dividing a state into districts to match the number of votes in the state is the
most fair, efficient way of distributing the votes. This is the system many states are
moving to, Nebraska has since joined Maine in the district system. While these seems to
be a fair system, many critics claim that it still isnt a democratic system and would like
to see the nation move to a National Popular Vote.
Direct democracy is an idea that was birthed in ancient Greece. The concept is
simple, the populace votes directly for their leaders and laws, there are no representatives
to vote on their behalf or electoral colleges in this system. On paper, this idea sounds
fantastic, however in practice the results are disastrous. In ancient Greece, direct
democracy led directly to mob rule. The majority of the population controlled the state.
The majority then used their control to disenfranchise the minorities of the state and pass
laws in their favor. This system in part, led to Greeces demise. However, direct

democracy is still a very attractive concept. A group has recently come to light in favor of
a National Popular Vote. The idea is very simple. The National Popular Vote bill would
award the presidency to the individual who receives the most popular votes in the U.S.
Critics praise this idea as being simple, fair, and easy, unlike the Electoral College. The
critics are not alone, according to their website, It has been enacted into law in 11 states
with 165 electoral votes, and will take effect when enacted by states with 105 more. The
bill has passed a total of 34 state legislative chambers in 23 statesmost recently by a
bipartisan 4016 vote in the Republican-controlled Arizona House, 2818 in Republicancontrolled Oklahoma Senate, 574 in Republican-controlled New York Senate, and 37
21 in Democratic-controlled Oregon House. (nationalpopularvote.com) In the year 2016,
it would certainly be possible to tally up individual votes and determine the candidate had
received the most. Many skeptics are worried about the possibility of fraud. Fraud has
always been a concern, even in the current system, campaigns have even been accused of
committing election fraud, namely the Clinton campaigns. In this technological age, it is
certainly possible to put up safeguards to prevent abuse and fraud. This new bill will play
a massive role in this upcoming election, affecting more than 165 votes as of this
moment. It will be interesting to see what the impact will be and perhaps the results of
this next election will solidify peoples views of the Electoral College.
The Electoral College has been an integral part of the United States election
system since its inception when the nation began. It has decided the results of elections
for years, and for the most part has gotten the results right. However, those few times
that the College decided against the populace has placed it under public scrutiny. Some
claim that it should be reformed, others claim it should be abolished. Maine and Nebraska
have reformed their votes to reflect in districts, while eleven states have moved to a
national popular voting standard. It will be interesting to see the outcome of the election
of 2016 and see how it effects peoples perspective on the American election system.

Leadership is perhaps the most important aspect of a country. It can lead it to a golden
age or to depression. We need a system to select the most worthy leader to guide our
people through these ever-changing times.

Works Cited
"U. S. Electoral College, Official - What Is the Electoral College?" National Archives
and Records Administration. National Archives and Records Administration, n.d. Web. 23
July 2016.
United States of America. Federal Election Commission. By William C. Kimberling.
N.p., May 1992. Web. 23 July 2016. <http://www.fec.gov/pdf/eleccoll.pdf>.
Payson-Denney, Wade. "Who Really Won Bush-Gore Election?" CNN. Cable News
Network, 31 Oct. 2015. Web. 23 July 2016.
<http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/31/politics/bush-gore-2000-election-results-studies/>.
Gary. Electoral College Reform : Challenges And Possibilities. Farnham, Surrey,

England: Routledge, 2010.eBookCollection (EBSCOhost). Web. 16 July 2016.

"National Popular Vote." National Popular Vote. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 July 2016.
<http://www.nationalpopularvote.com/>.