Where Knowledge Rules

Home:

Politics, News & Issues

Get a Widget for this title

The Electoral College and its bias against third parties

The Electoral College is an interesting subject about which I feel many people do not understand. We believe we elect the President on Election Day in November. While there is much hype about the election and the results, the actual election of the President comes through the votes by the Electoral College. Though the news organizations talk about the Electoral College during the results it is not put in perspective so the public understands. The Electoral College made sense in the beginning of our country but I feel it has lost much of its relevancy. This article will explain why I feel this way and what changes should be made.




The votes assigned to each state amount to one for each representative and the two senators. While this brings some organization to the process those states with large populations get more Electoral College votes than those with less population. This decreases the importance of the votes in each of these states. There needs to be some consistency, which provides equal importance to all states. Candidates sometimes concentrate on those states with the highest electoral votes so they achieve the required number to be President.




At the beginning of our country, there was no easy way for people to learn about the candidates running for President and the Electoral College was established to make the decision. There needs to be some changes in this process. The American people have a right to have a greater impact from all states not just those with higher Electoral College votes. While some may say that this would be unfair to states with higher population, I say that each state deserves equal representation in the Presidential election process.




This can be accomplished in two ways. The first is to assign an equal number of Electoral College votes to each state. This will create a situation where each state has an equal degree of importance in each Presidential election. The other option is for the states to award or assign delegates based on the percentage of votes the candidates receive during the election. This will again allow an equal chance for the candidates to win the quantity of votes to be elected. Today with the large assignment of votes based on the number of senators and representatives the more a state has increases the importance of winning that state. This is wrong.




Prior to Election Day there is another aspect which has a bearing on which candidate wins the nomination for their party. There are states that award delegates


Below are the top articles rated and ranked by Helium members on:

The Electoral College and its bias against third parties

  • 1 of 6

    by Dennis Aubuchon

    The Electoral College is an interesting subject about which I feel many people do not understand. We believe we elect the

    read more

  • 2 of 6

    by Alan Fernald

    While the Electoral College exists, the United States will never elect a third party candidate to the office of President.

    read more

  • 3 of 6

    by Royce Radcliffe

    It is a pretty sad situation when you vote for one of the two parties just "so it counts" but that is what this country

    read more

  • 4 of 6

    by William Duda

    With the midterm elections of 2006 behind us, and the Democratic Party now in control of the House of Representatives and

    read more

  • 5 of 6

    by Clay Barham

    Getting rid of the Electoral College to favor the popular vote would tip the power to a few large American cities. It would

    read more

View All Articles on:
The Electoral College and its bias against third parties

Add your voice

Know something about The Electoral College and its bias against third parties?
We want to hear your view. Write_penWrite now!

Helium Debate

Cast your vote!

Does North Korea's missile test represent a real threat to the United States?

Click for your side.

100468

Featured Partner

Charity Music

Charity Music is a nonprofit public service organization that loans musical instruments free of charge to individua...more

What is Helium? | Buy Web Content | Contact Us | Privacy | User agreement | DMCA | User Tools | Help | Community | Helium’s Official Blog | Link to Helium

Helium, Inc.
200 Brickstone Square Andover, MA 01810 USA