The electoral college is a uniquely American system in which an amount of representatives from each state proportional to their states population casts their presidential ballot rather than being directly elected by the people themselves. Whichever candidate receives the majority of their states votes is awarded all of them. The system was established shortly after our country’s birth in the constitution as a compromise proposed by our founding fathers between absolute democracy and having congressmen elect representatives. However, because of this policy, it is possible (and even common) for a less popular candidate to be elected to president despite our country’s “democracy” which we hold to such a high standard. The electoral college should be abolished because it is unrepresentative of the people’s real desires; giving all power to the people is a quality upon which our country was built. It is a facade for an unbalanced democracy that is in fact influenced by the opinions of the common man, and instead placed in the palms of the few who are already politically established.
Rather than complicate the system through electoral votes, we should rely solely on the popular vote when establishing presidents. We already track the votes of individuals so the process of voting would remain the same, however the result would be more representative of what We the People want. It would increase voter turnout because citizens would believe that their vote is worth more than it was before because it would directly contribute to the outcome of the race rather than just being used to sway the vote of one person who actually counts. It would maintain our winner take all system, but on a national scale rather than on the current, small, ineffective state scale. Not only is this a more realistic form of democracy, but it is also more inclusive and efficient.
