Elections for President and Vice President in the United States of America are determined and voted on by an electoral college. With five hundred and thirty-eight electoral votes, a presidential candidate must get a majority win amongst the electoral college, which is at least two hundred and seventy votes, to win the presidency. The electoral college in the United States is made up of a group of electors, whose only role is to elect the president and vice-president. They elect both positions with one vote for a presidential candidate and another for a vice presidential candidate. Electors do not work as electors year-round because the presidential elections are once every four years, and they only vote for presidential and vice presidential …show more content…
Five presidents have lost the popular vote, but they won the electoral vote. These presidents include John Quincy Adams (1842), Rutherford B. Hayes (1876), Benjamin Harrison (1888), George W. Bush (2000), and Donald Trump (2016). With the most recent being Donald Trump, this has stirred up many questions including if the people's vote really count.
One of the most recent controversies has been with Donald Trump. Hilary Clinton won the popular vote, but Donald Trump won the electoral vote. Due to the intensity of this election, people were concerned with how important their vote truly is.
People do not feel as if their votes matter within the electoral college. This leads to a large issue within the voting system in America because people are not voting. If their vote does not matter, then why should they vote? Voting is an important civic responsibility and civic right that all citizens of the United States should practice, if they are able to. Some people do not vote because they do not care about politics, they may be scared to make the wrong decision, or they do not feel as if their vote matters. Voting truly does not matter if the popular vote does not matter
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To become an elector, one must not be a member of the Senate or House of Representatives, and cannot be a person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, according to Article II, section 1, clause 2 of the Constitution. Most states choose their state electors by party convention, while other states pick their electors by party committees, gubernatorial appointments, appointment by party nominees, state chair appointments, presidential nominee appointments, or hybrid methods. The candidate must also be affiliated within the party to be an elector and must be a registered voter. There is no age requirement or living requirement to be an elector, unlike a presidential
Abrogate the Electoral College immediately. The Electoral College is a formal body of 538 electors who determine the President and Vice President of the United States of America. The system was established in Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution for the reason of keeping a balance between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and a popular vote of citizenry. Copious amounts of controversy have been surrounding the subject ever since its date of inauguration. The Electoral College should be abolished because it does not serve democracy, the presidential outcome is able to be altered by just the Electoral College–not the majority–and an appreciable amount of the U.S. population believes the Electoral College should be terminated.
The Electoral College is “a body of people representing the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the election of the president and vice president.” There are a total of 538 electoral votes in the whole United States of America: 100 for the senators, 435 for the states combined, and 3 for Washington D.C. Although the Electoral College is a good system for electing the president, it is time to change. There are many flaws for this system. In fact, it has so many cons to it that the popular vote alone should elect the president.
Individuals in each state place a ballot for whom they want their next president and vice president to be. The elector places their vote based on the majority of the popular vote within their represented state. All electors in the state vote the same, excluding two states. 100 votes are reserved for the senators, while 438 are divided within the district. A candidate needs 270 electoral college votes to win.
Since 1800 there have been over 700 proposals to either revise or eliminate the electoral college. The electoral college was added to the Constitution in 1787 to guarantee the best candidate was elected. The electoral college consists of electors who officially cast their votes for President. The number of electors for each state is determined by the number of congress members each state has. While there are no qualifications to become an elector, electors must follow the people's directive.
The Electoral College allows the United States to vote for the President and Vice President. Instead of being voted directly by the people, each state selects electors to vote for the President (Lau). The system has been in place since the country's founding and has been the subject of much debate over the years. While some
The Electoral College While some people believe their votes are contributing directly to the election of the President, most people are aware that their votes mean almost nothing compared to those of the Electoral College. The Electoral College consists of the electors who cast each state’s electoral votes. It is made up of 538 electors, each state having the same number of electors as Senate and House members combined, plus three votes from the District of Columbia. “To win the presidency, a candidate must receive at least 270 votes” and win the majority (Patterson 359).
The Electoral College is a system stated in the Clause 2 of Section 1 in the Article II of the United States Constitution to elect the President of the United States. According to the Constitution, each state needs to appoint electors, who in turn vote to select the President. The number of electors from each state should be the same as the number of Senators and Representatives that the state entitled in the Congress. Citizens from each state choose the electors through elections. The electors then cast the citizens’ votes for the candidate they prefer.
You are not alone in finding the fact that the majority vote does not always win in United States elections. There are actually many groups attempting to abolish the electoral college after the election of Donald Trump, as he did not win the popular vote. I think that the electoral college was a good solution for the founders to give all of America the ability to have their voice heard by a nonpartisan election caster, but unfortunately it does not seem to be working as well today. Ali from Reading Discussion #2 11 hours ago
The Electoral College is how the American people vote on the leader of their country. The College consists of 538 delegates from the fifty states, each with the power to choose who they want as president. It meets after the general elections and votes on the President and Vice President
There are some states though that do require this. These requirements fall into two categories: Electors that are bound by state law and those bound by pledges to political parties. Electors must comply to these pledges, otherwise they would become “faithless Electors” and might be subject to fines or their vote might be disqualified and replaced by a substitute Elector’s. Electors cast their votes on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December after the Presidential election.
When the polling process of the presidential election is over, the results are submitted to the states, giving the electors their select state polling results. After this, the electors decide whether they listen to the millions of people in the U.S. population or themselves. Most listen to the population, but some listen to themselves. In reference to this, “there have been 5 presidential elections where the president won without winning the popular vote” (history.com). This is unfair to the people of America because they spent their time voting for the president for their vote to end up not mattering because of a couple of people deciding themselves.
The Electoral College system was established within the constitution by the United States founding fathers. It was loosely defined in the twelfth amendment, and has been a part of every election since. The system works in such a way that every state has a number of electors established by their population, and those electors vote either according to party affiliation or according to popular vote in their state. A majority of two hundred and seventy electors is needed to win a candidate for the presidency. This system was developed at the start of the American nation as a way to uplift civilian voices into government matters, and in a small nation that may suffice.
Late during the 19th century, the range of the constitutional, federal, and state legal political elements of the contemporary system was finally in place. The electors vote by ballot. After voting is over, that means the electors did their constitutional duty. The Electoral College is then ceased until voting comes again after the four years are up. The Electoral College is established in Article II, Section 1 of the United States Constitution.
Each state has a different number of electors, based on the number of representatives they have in Congress, which is based on population. I.e. Alabama has
Each elector must cast one vote for President and one vote for Vice President. In order to win the electoral college, and be nominated as President of the United States, the candidate must gain 270 of the 538 electoral votes. In an instance where no candidate receives the 270 votes needed, the House of Representatives