FREE ESSAY ON ELECTORAL COLLEGE

ELECTORAL COLLEGE

It seems to be that amars major complaint Is that the college was made for and favors
white southerners and that the EC diminishes the value of one-man one vote. Yet all his
problems seem to be just statements with nothing to back it up. He fails to mention that
there were other reasons that the Electoral College was made. Such as our fathers did not
want a president dependent on the legislature, so they rejected a parliamentary model in
which legislators would pick the prez. Second citizens back then could not be trusted to
choose wisely. Laslty becuz the north overpowered the south in population becuz slaves
were not aloud to vote. He then makes the generalization that it was created solely for
the southerners. So I read his proposal that he made before the supreme court to abolish
the ec and he said none of these arguments are valid today I agree. Yet I disagree his
with statement that the ec favors southerners. He brings the proof that the first 36
years of the ec most of the prezs were from the south. Yet fails to tell us that the only
reason they did so well was becuz they were given a lot of electoral votes for each state
becuz they had a lot of slaves, yet the slaves werent aloud to vote. U might ask what
about after slavery yet there were still poll taxes and literacy tests. Today since we
don't have either blacks although a minorities nationaly they still can play big roles in
election becuz of the ec Minorities tend to live in very populated states like new york
and california. 
Critics such as Mr. amar of the Electoral College believe that the principle of
democratic legitimacy or one man one vote is based on numbers alone. They believe that
under the Electoral College the power of your vote is diminished - even to the point
where your vote might be wasted if the candidate you voted for doesn't win the state. In
this year's election approximately 100,000,000 people voted and so it would seem that any
one vote is practically insignificant. In a state like Florida, however, which remains
undecided and will determine the outcome of this election, the lead is only 300 and it
should be apparent that each one of these 300 votes has enormous value. If you would
contend that living in a state with only three electoral votes diminishes your vote,
consider how much more diminished your vote would be if it were a direct election. You
would be one in a hundred million! Under the EC there is at least a chance that ure state
can influence the election whereas you by yourself probably couldn't.
If we did have direct election then the candidates would simply appeal to a majority of
the population and win without having to appeal to each state. If we do abolish the
Electoral College we will allow candidates the ability to appeal and promise everything
to majorities of the voters such as eastern metropolitan voters, white Christians or
suburbanites. This would destroy federalism one of the fundamental elements of our
constitution. Federalism is the distribution of power in our country between a central
government and the states.
In contrast, under the Electoral College, a candidate can't simply promise everything to
one section of the country and neglect another. Each candidate is forced to persuade the
voters, state by state. They must address the particular concerns of voters as citizens
of those states.
Direct election, which is solely based on numbers, would dramatically reduce the
influence of minorities who are the swing votes in closely divided states-groups like
farmers who make up 3 percent of the population and blacks who make up 15 percent of the
population
The goal of politics in this country is harmony majority rule with minority consent. But
you can ask why would minority consent to majority rule. The answer is only if the
minority can see that on some occasions and on some vital issues it can be part of the
majority. For instance the appointing of two senators from each state not depending on
the population of the state. Also there is the state equality principle in voting on
constitutional amendments and the three-fourths requirement for passing of amendments.
Since the president is a major figure in national interest it is only fair that
minorities should be able to influence the election. Mr. Amar claims that the Electoral
College is unfair to racial minorities (**does he really claim that?**) but I have shown
that racial minorities such as Blacks and Jews can only be heard and not be neglected
under the electoral college. Currently they have roles in deciding the state and
consequently in choosing the candidates.