Tuesday, June 9, 2020
Does it Make Sense to Abolish the Electoral College
Does it Make Sense to Abolish the Electoral College?The Electoral College is an old and undemocratic system of government. But, the Electoral College essay is not the only way you can abolish the Electoral College system. Electing a president by popular vote, is one solution, but that also affects our Constitution. Some say an Elected president would be more beholden to special interests and corporations than the electorate and thus undermine the Constitutional intent of the Founding Fathers.It would be a political revolution, indeed, if the Electoral College was abolished. Of course, this isn't likely. Because it takes two-thirds of all states to eliminate the Electoral College, each state has to pass legislation to make it official. Therefore, the chances for abolishing the Electoral College, even if there was strong grassroots support for the change, are very slim.The citizens of a state could do their own electoral college by using a proportional system, like Maine's. It would st ill result in a winner-take-all system, but it would be more proportional. As the political activist Michael J. Carvin points out, 'The Electoral College is a dirty trick used by slave-holding states to deny their slaves a say in the Constitution.'For example, it makes sense that some states with high numbers of African-Americans and conservative voters would be the most likely to abolish the Electoral College. In fact, in his opinion, the Electoral College is 'a vicious cesspool of racism and sexism.' If those states want to end the racist and sexist bias that lead to the Electoral College, then they should take the initiative and abolish it.Be careful, though. You may be tempted to abolish the Electoral College by letting everyone vote directly for president. However, it will not have the same effect as ending the system altogether. It will not change the fact that each state casts a vote for president, just like in the case of the current system.The Constitutional amendments by a bolishing the Electoral College essay actually are not quite as direct as the reformers claim. Instead, it starts by re-instituting the Senate as the basic governing body of the government. Then, the text of the amendment reads as follows:'There shall be twelve members of the United States Senate, elected by the states, namely, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia.'As stated above, this has gotten as far as the get-go. This system of electing senators is a great start, but it is not as simple as abolishing the Electoral College. It would require ratification from three-fourths of the states, which is a tall order for any change in the Constitution. Additionally, some critics would argue that the 12 senators today are too few to represent the states and the people.If abolishing the Electoral College is your goal, then let's work on changing the number of senators. Let's ask for proposals from all s ides to replace it with the new system, and then we can keep the Electoral College out of our Constitution for good.
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