Why Should Electoral College be Abolished in Favor of Direct Public Election? 

The United States of America is used to the grumbling over its Electoral College every four years by the political observers. Consequently, this is because of its lack of assurance that victory belongs to the candidate with popular votes win. Nevertheless, very little has been done to revolutionize this scenario. The intricacy of this system (Electoral College) denies the undoubting voter to realize its cons. The highway toward the reformation of the Electoral College is beleaguered with wrecks of numerous previous efforts. The ailment is precise, but the remedy not. Therefore, there are more than enough reasons that warranty the abolishment of the Electoral College system in favour of the direct public election of the president and vice president. For example, the Electoral College ignores Americans’ will.

America’s population is over 300 million. It is quite unfair when 538 people decide will be the most influential person in the country. An excellent example that the Electoral College disregards the will of the people is when Hillary Clinton won the popular vote in the 2016 presidential election by more than one million votes but ended up losing the election on electoral votes. Even the benefit of the Electoral College system, President Donald Trump believes that the popular votes should determine the presidential elections. He was quoted saying, “…where you went with simple votes. You know, you get 100 million votes, and somebody else gets 90 million votes, and you win” (West)

Furthermore, the significant reasons why the Founding Fathers formed the Electoral College are no longer pertinent. The growth in modern technology advancements gives voters consent to acquire the necessary information during the election period to make conversant decisions, something that was not foreseen by the Founding fathers (Cronin). Numerous voting laws that restricted direct constitutional democracy have been either discarded or modified; the Electoral College should not be an exception. Therefore, I believe it is time the power to elect the president and vice president should be given to the 300 million Americans by abolishing the Electoral College.

Bibliography

Cronin, Thomas E. “The Direct Vote and the Electoral College the Case for Meshing Things Up!” Presidential Studies Quarterly (1979): 144-163. JSTOR.

West, Darrell M. “It’s time to abolish the Electoral College.” Big Ideas (2020): 1-5.