Pros And Cons Of The Electoral College

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The Electoral College is an institution as old as our country and has been around since it was created during the Constitutional Convention of 1787. The Convention debated many methods of electing the president of the United States. Some called for more direct voting, such as in a direct democracy, while others wanted the vote to belong to members of congress themselves. This method was not selected because it would hamper the checks and balances they were building into the constitution, giving more power to congress. Finally, they settled on electing the President through a number of electors (the phrase Electoral College does not appear in the constitution) assigned to each state. Each state is given a number of electors equal to how many …show more content…
Each side has its own pros and cons. The Electoral College was originally chosen by the founding fathers, because at the time it seemed a fair system. It appealed to both large and small states, since it was the same system they had agreed on for congress. At the time, a direct democracy was not practical, because votes would have to be counted for over 4 million people, and sent over land by horse. The system was made so that originally the Electoral College would be the most educated individuals, up to date on the needs of their state and what each candidate offered their sate. Today, the states popular vote chooses which party the electors belongs, today, and they should vote for their own candidate. This means that the people are only two steps removed from electing the President. Another advantage of the elector system is that it favors the two party system which is very stable compared to other elections from around the world each party concedes defeat without trying to wage war on the other. The Electoral College system also protects smaller states from getting over looked by candidates and ensures they get a more even
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