The Electoral College is one of America’s most important, yet controversial systems in elections and politics. Originally created by the Founding Fathers, the Electoral College is a set of electors whose responsibility is to elect the president in each election. Each state has a certain number of electors based on population, with the states’ number of votes in total adding up to 535, which is the amount of seats in Congress. 3 votes are added on for Washington D.C., totaling up to 538, and 270 is required to win the election. The controversy comes from states with more people having more votes, while states with very few people only have 3 votes minimum. People debate if smaller states are being underrepresented, or if 3 votes is even too many for a desolate state in the Electoral College. There are also issues that originate from the popular vote reflecting different results than the Electoral College, like the 2016 election for example. I believe it’s time to revise the Electoral College in hopes to make it more fair and representative of each state’s opinions on the candidates in each election.
I think finding a way to reshape the guidelines of the Electoral College could have a better result for future elections, but doing so in a way that truly corrects the system is difficult. I think the best way to revise the structure of the Electoral College is to put more specific responsibilities on the states by having each state determine the majority of the population per congressional district that’s in favor of a political party. Once each congressional district has a winner based on majority, the majority of the districts in favor of a party will win the state’s vote for that party. Next, I think each state should be given 1 vote, adding an additional vote for Washington D.C., adding up to 51 total. The final vote for Washington D.C. can be determined simply by the majority winner since there are no congressional districts. The candidate who reaches at least 26 points in the Electoral College will be elected president. This system allows each state to have an equal impact on the outcome of the election, while still making sure each individual within every state is still represented through the population of their congressional district.
