ELECTORAL COLLEGE

Since its creation, the Electoral College has faced debate
between those who believe it benefits the electoral
process and those who view it as detrimental. The
Electoral College debate focuses around various issues,
including the relevance of the popular vote, the
allocation of voting power between states and how the
system affects minority groups.
Supporters of the Electoral College argue that one of the
main benefits of the system is that it requires the
winning candidate to have a broad appeal throughout
the nation. By requiring candidates to appeal to voters
throughout the country, the Electoral College prevents
candidates from winning based on winning the support
of urban areas alone, which would allegedly
disenfranchise rural voters. In a similar way, proponents
of the Electoral College argue that the current system
empowers minority groups because it requires
candidates to appeal to minority groups to win enough
states to win the election.
Supporters also claim that the current system is in line
with the federal character of the US government. This is
because the current system gives more voting power to
less populous communities, and proponents of this view
argue that even the opinions of a sparsely populated
area should matter to the federal government. They take
the position that the Electoral College provides for
greater national stability. By requiring candidates to
appeal to a broad collection of voters, new ideas and
innovations have to meet with broad-based approval
before those who hold those views can gain power in
the government.
Those who criticize the Electoral College often do so on
the grounds that it makes the popular vote irrelevant
and point to four elections, those in 2000, 1888, 1876
and 1824 where the candidate who won a victory
through the electoral college did not have a plurality of
the total votes cast. This is generally viewed by
detractors of the Electoral College as not in line with the
principles of a democratic society. Detractors also argue
that the present system encourage candidates to appeal
only to certain swing states in each election. They
argue that instead of finding broad-based appeal,
candidates tailor their campaigns to win over swing
voters in a handful of states.
The Electoral College Debate Continues
Those who support changing the present system also
argue that the Electoral College discourages voter
participation in states that are not identified as
battleground states. They argue that this is because of
party domination in certain states that renders the votes
of those not in that party irrelevant to the national
election. In this way, detractors of the Electoral College
believe that the present system disenfranchises minority
groups.