The Trouble with the Electoral College | Summary and Q&A

TL;DR

The Electoral College in the United States violates the principle of equal voting rights, as it gives some states more voting power than others.

Key Insights

• 🗯️ The Electoral College violates the principle of equal voting rights by giving some people's votes more weight than others based on their state of residence.
• 🙈 Candidates concentrate their efforts and resources on a few swing states, ignoring the needs and interests of the majority of Americans.
• 😚 The winner-take-all system encourages candidates to prioritize close races, leaving significant portions of the population with limited representation.
• 🔌 Abolishing the Electoral College would ensure that every citizen's vote has equal value and eliminate the possibility of presidents being elected without the majority of popular support.
• 🏙️ The fear that abolishing the Electoral College would result in candidates only focusing on big cities is unfounded, as the population distribution is spread across various cities and states.
• 😉 The Electoral College has a history of allowing candidates who did not win the popular vote to become president, highlighting its undemocratic nature.
• 😚 The failure rate of the Electoral College, with three instances of the popular vote winner losing the presidency, is unacceptably high for such an important role.

Transcript

In a fair democracy everyone's vote should count equally, but the method that the United States uses to elect its president, called the electoral college, violates this principle by making sure that some people's votes are more equal than others. The Electoral College is, essentially, the 538 votes that determine who wins the presidency. If these v... Read More

Questions & Answers

Q: How does the Electoral College violate the principle of equal voting rights?

The Electoral College gives some states more voting power than others, leading to an unequal distribution of votes and disregarding the principle of one person, one vote.

Q: Why do small states receive more voting power?

According to the rules of the Electoral College, every state gets three votes to start with, regardless of their population. This gives small states more voting power than they would have based on their population.

Q: How does the winner-take-all system affect campaign strategies?

Candidates focus on states where the election outcome is uncertain. The winner-take-all system incentivizes candidates to spend most of their time and resources in swing states, leaving the majority of Americans without significant attention.

Q: What are the disadvantages of the Electoral College?

The Electoral College can result in presidents being elected without winning the popular vote. It also reinforces a two-party system and discourages third-party candidates.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• The Electoral College gives states votes, not individuals, leading to unfair consequences in representation.

• Small states receive more voting power while large states are underrepresented.

• Candidates focus on a few swing states, ignoring the majority of American voters.