Free Essays on Electoral College

Electoral College Electoral College The Electoral College, friend or foe? The answer behind this question is in the minds of those that understand it. Whether it be a â€Å"friend† or a â€Å"foe† there will always be opposing sides and a controversial verse. Since the political circumstance of today, the Electoral College seems to be the topic in every conversation and the thesis to every essay. The uncontrollable desire to know the truth behind the mystery is stirring in the minds of the people in the United States of America. With the 2000 Elections underway sides are beginning to be taken among the people. Many oppose the Electoral College because of the fact that unknowing electors choose their leader and many support it because it was created by the founding fathers. Both sides are arguable and not one side is right. The question is: Can a system be created to satisfy both sides of the American public? The founding fathers created the Electoral College for many reasons. One of the reasons was to give the people the right to have a say on who becomes president and another reason was to give congress the right to choose as well. At the time of the 1787 Constitutional Convention this was a topic that aroused many opposing ideas and opinions. They had three choices, to allow the public direct elections, grant congress the right to elect the president or give electors the privilege of selecting the countries leader. What they were trying to do was to prevent absolute power. Since they had their taste of King George’s way of ruling they were afraid that if they let one group of people choose the president then that group would gain too much power or the president elected would feel too powerful. After many disputes and disagreements the delegates finally reached a decision. Consequently, they created a complex â€Å"filtering† process known as the Electoral College. This way both the people and congress could elect the president, or a... Free Essays on Electoral College Free Essays on Electoral College Electoral College Electoral College The Electoral College, friend or foe? The answer behind this question is in the minds of those that understand it. Whether it be a â€Å"friend† or a â€Å"foe† there will always be opposing sides and a controversial verse. Since the political circumstance of today, the Electoral College seems to be the topic in every conversation and the thesis to every essay. The uncontrollable desire to know the truth behind the mystery is stirring in the minds of the people in the United States of America. With the 2000 Elections underway sides are beginning to be taken among the people. Many oppose the Electoral College because of the fact that unknowing electors choose their leader and many support it because it was created by the founding fathers. Both sides are arguable and not one side is right. The question is: Can a system be created to satisfy both sides of the American public? The founding fathers created the Electoral College for many reasons. One of the reasons was to give the people the right to have a say on who becomes president and another reason was to give congress the right to choose as well. At the time of the 1787 Constitutional Convention this was a topic that aroused many opposing ideas and opinions. They had three choices, to allow the public direct elections, grant congress the right to elect the president or give electors the privilege of selecting the countries leader. What they were trying to do was to prevent absolute power. Since they had their taste of King George’s way of ruling they were afraid that if they let one group of people choose the president then that group would gain too much power or the president elected would feel too powerful. After many disputes and disagreements the delegates finally reached a decision. Consequently, they created a complex â€Å"filtering† process known as the Electoral College. This way both the people and congress could elect the president, or a... Free Essays on Electoral College This research paper will be informative about the Electoral College and it’s operations, historical development, weaknesses of the system, and proposed changes. This paper will go into the depths of how and why it is still in use to this day. The purpose is to report to the voters of this country and to teach them the basis of our voting heritage. The Electoral College was developed because of the problem that our founding fathers faced on the difficult question of how to elect a president in an emerging nation. The nation was composed of thirteen large and small states jealous of their own rights and powers and suspicious of any central government. The U.S. contained only 4 million people spread up and down a thousand miles of Atlantic seaboard barely connected by transportation or communication (making national campaigns impossible). As well as our nation’s framers felt that gentlemen should not campaign for public office ( The saying was, â€Å"The office should seek the man, the man should not seek the office.†) (Abbott, 7) In the operations of the electoral college in our current nation, there are 538 electoral college voters, and a majority of 270 is needed to win the presidency.(N.A.R.A) By decision of Congress, the electors meet to vote simultaneously in all the states, on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December of presidential election years. On January 6, following the meeting of the electors, their votes are counted in the presence of a joint session of Congress. If a candidate gets more than half the votes, he or she will become the new president. If there is no majority, then the election goes to the House of Representatives. There each state is given one vote where they vote on the top three candidates. If a candidate gets a majority vote, then he or she will become president. If not, they are to continue voting until a majority is reached and the speaker of the house w...