9/16/08 Narayan,

Alison, Briana,
Josh, Amber
Water Stream E.
Band
Amending the 12th Amendment, Rebuttal to Attacks

The Electoral College system in America is a way of voting that is

seen as unfair to certain respects and as having too much power in

regulating those who get elected into office. For example, Bush was

elected in 2000 due to the Electoral College vote, even though Gore

won the popular vote. People woke up after the election the next

morning and saw Bush in office rather than the person who they

thought was the victor. This is why the Electoral College needs to be

reformed so that the popular vote in each state’s district is represented

by one College vote, leaving the state’s two senators to vote as they

normally would and represent the popular vote of the entire state, with

each vote from the Electoral College going to the candidate who won

it, rather than all of them going to who the state chooses overall.

However, people can argue that the election process should not be

changed, and they will be addressed by the following

statements/information.

First, one might say that the Electoral College system has been

working for so long, so there’s no reason to change it. For example, the

Gateline article Electoral College Shouldn’t Change says that our

system is unique and has worked for the 55 elections that we’ve had

so far, so there’s no need to change it. However, it is a fact that

Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, and New Jersey “have adopted popular vote

legislation,” as stated in the same article. This shows that everyone

isn’t happy with the way we elect people into office and the need for

change has arisen. With the popular vote being used as the

centerpiece for the Electoral College, all the voices of Americans can

be heard when they decide who should be their leader. With the way

the Electoral College is set up now, all the candidates have to do is win

the states that are worth more electoral votes, so it doesn’t really

matter who gets more total votes, which is already a reason why it

should change. The new way will give the candidate’s completely fair

chances in each state, with both getting College votes if they earned

them, regardless of the entire state’s winner.

Next, it can be argued that the American people aren’t informed

enough, or don’t care enough to make the right decisions as to who

could be the best leader for them. For example, Donald Wittman’s

article in The Encyclopedia of Public Choice, Pressure Groups and

Uninformed Voters, touches on this to some degree. In the article’s

section on how the election is modeled, Baron’s (1994), as well as

Grossman and Helpman’s (1997) models of the election include a

pressure group that provides the money for candidates’ advertising, in

exchange for them making political moves. Due to these groups, the

voters during elections become split into the uninformed who vote

based on advertisements, and the informed voters who decide solely

on policy. But, these uninformed voters are influenced due to the

advertisements, so they cannot be blamed for being secretly drawn

into making the choice of manipulators. Also, the Electoral College’s

structure virtually negates the vote of the people, uninformed or not,

because it all comes down to the person with the most Electoral

College votes winning. So, voters thus have a reason not to care about

their votes since the college can seemingly (or actually) drown out

voters’ voices. If the newly proposed system is put into effect and the

result will be more efficient. The popular vote is counted for one

College vote in each district, then the senators themselves vote, fairly

distributing every College vote, causing equality to spread amongst

everyone, inspiring more people to vote since they can be reassured

when they believe their vote counts. Also, the battleground states will

become a thing of the past due to every College vote being decided

either way rather than all to one side. As another result, the less

populated, often ignored states will see more action and more new

voices that were once on the sidelines will rise up. No state will be

ignored like they would have been in the past because each district’s

popular vote goes to the deserving candidate, eliminating the previous

unfairness.
 In addition, people argue that voters will vote for the wrong reasons

even if they are informed. For example, Jasmine Thomas, in an SLA

History class discussion, argued how people are voting for Obama just

because of his ethnicity, regardless of whether they are knowledgeable

on the issues. She said that many voters choose Obama for the fact

that he is potentially the first U.S. president of African descent, so they

vote for the wrong reason. However, the same thing can be said about

McCain for voters who are opposed to Obama, so her argument doesn’t

really hold together. It is said that the Electoral College weeds out

uninformed and ill-informed people, making it the ideal election

system. However, it also drowns out the cries for change presented by

those who do vote for the right reasons. Also, the college’s bias exists

towards states worth more Electoral College votes, because these

states can bring about the outcome of elections that America may not

have desired, regardless of which candidates actually receive more

total votes. With more emphasis placed on the popular vote, the bias

will be destroyed since every last College vote would be up for grabs.

In conclusion, the Electoral College should be reorganized with the

popular vote having stronger influence by amending the 12

Amendment to the Constitution. The views that people have developed

from its use, biases that the college presents, and people who the
system shoots down are too influential when it comes to the situation

of deciding our country’s leaders. That is why the election should be

restricted to popular vote, so that millions of drowned out voices can

be heard, and the people who truly deserve to lead America will

acquire that privilege.

WORKS CITED

1. England, Trent. "Electoral College Shouldn't Change." The

Peninsula Gateway 9/10/08 1. 16 Oct 2008
<http://www.gateline.com/108/story/2311.html>.

2. Whittman, Donald. "Pressure Groups and Uninformed Voters."

The Encyclopedia of Public Choice, by Springer US 1/25/08 1.
16 Oct 2008 <http://resources.metapress.com/pdf-
preview.axd?code=x2q08570985766r0&size=large>.

3. Thomas, Jasmine. "10/14/08 Discussion." Scinece Leadership

Academy, History Course- Water Stream 10/14/08 16 Oct 2008