Electoral College

So I just found out there isn't a thread for the electoral college in America. Methinks this would be a good debate.

First, is the electoral college fair? Was it ever fair? Do we need it to exist now? What are our alternatives?

My opinion: The electoral college is a crock, established during the Constitutional Congress to give the South an advantage. (Along with the 3/5ths Compromise, making slaves worth 3/5ths of a white man, and allowing the South as a whole to own the North for a while.) It wasn't particularly fair then, and it isn't now by any means. What we need to do is go by the popular vote. That's the only way we can be sure we elect the person the majority of the country feels is the best choice, "majority rules" being the principle democracy is based on, for the most part.

A great example of how outdated and confusing the College is obviously the Bush/Gore election where Gore had the poopular vote but Bush won due to electorial vote and ultimately won the election.


I understood that when you vote for president you don't actually vote for the person but rather you're voting for the offical who will vote for your choice...

How confusing is that? The average Joe in America doesn't know that...

then again, most Americans are retarded and we need the Electoral College there

the United States is not a democracy and never has been
I'm in high school and no one teaches the concept of a "Democratic Republic"

we don't elect our leaders
we elect the people who elect our leaders

and I think changing to Democracy would be a step down from where we already are

I don't understand what the electoral college is.. could someone explain please?

Coff:

I don't understand what the electoral college is.. could someone explain please?

basically, each state is represented with a fixed number (depending on state population) of representatives voted on by the people
so for elections, the people's vote goes to them

and if they don't do what the people say they aren't elected again

but it keeps us from making Oprah or Ben Affleck or someone like that president

So wait. Is that how it works here? Cause each party is represented by a fixed number of representatives per state, too. And you vote for which one you like best. So which ever person gets the most votes in a district gets a seat in parliament. And the party that has the most seats in parliament becomes the one that is incharge of our country.

Or something like that, I can never really understand it.

Almost everyone (more Americans than anyone) are wrong in thinking the US is a democracy. It's a democratic republic. Americans are complete morons but we still deserve the right to vote, so we vote for who's smart enough to vote for us.

The electoral college I was debating over if I should make this thread or not, I wasn't sure if anyone else would really care.

Now, for those who don't know, the electoral college is how preseidents are chosen. Each states number of electors is equal to the number of represenatives and senators they have.

The number of represenatives is based on population. So, for instance, California would have more represenatives then Rhode Island obviously. The number of senators is equal for all states.

Now, this is important in Congress, because think about this. If we based voting in congress on population alone, the more populated states would control the government, and the smaller states needs would be neglected. Texas and Rhode Island need differnet things, and they are of equal power in the Senate, so Texas has no advantage because of their population. However, it is also known that texas IS representing more people, so they do have more represenatives than Rhode Island. Thats how congress balances out.

Now, thats where the number of electors comes from. Just like I said before, it would be unfair to base the voting alone on the population, the costal cities have the largest population, and would control the government, and the rest of the country would end up neglected.

So, if you think we have the electoral college because the government thinks we're too dumb to vote... well, sometimes thats true, but that isn't the cause. If you want your vote to count, it needs to be like this. Otherwise you'd best move to a large, populated state or you'd be screwed.

It isn't as if the people voting in the electoral college are just some old hermits we found in some tree in the Rocky Mountains, we did elect them. Thats how our government works really, Congress is the same. We elect our represenatives. The elector cannot be a Representative or Senator
they cannot be a high-ranking U.S. official in a position of "trust or profit"
Also, they can't be someone who has "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" against the U.S. Those are the conditions Im aware of. If they meet those qualifications. How electors are actually voted in varies from state to state, because congress are too big of pussies to make a national policy.

Coff:

So wait. Is that how it works here? Cause each party is represented by a fixed number of representatives per state, too. And you vote for which one you like best. So which ever person gets the most votes in a district gets a seat in parliament. And the party that has the most seats in parliament becomes the one that is incharge of our country.

Or something like that, I can never really understand it.

if your from the UK, yeah thats basically how it works. its not great, because you might like the MP but not the party leader.

then again, every state gets at least two votes...but yeah, some places are neglected since California is starting to Canadize itself and it has most of the votes

but the system is better than having a 100% democracy

I don't get it. We just learned about it in goverment, but I'm still confused.

As Seen On TV:

I don't get it. We just learned about it in goverment, but I'm still confused.

I just explained it like 3 posts above, but if you tell me what confuses you I can try and make it more clear.