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The electoral college system has been part of America for many years. At times, this system has proved to be a good thing for our country, but in most times, it has not. I am in favor of changing to election by popular vote for the president of the United States. I am in favor of changing to a popular vote because of the unfairness, faulty aspects, and electors in the electoral college.

To begin, the electoral college is fair in some ways, but mostly not. One may understandably say that "The Electoral College avoids the problem of elections in which no canidate recieves a majority of the votes cast" (Posner, 22). The electoral college has proved to be a balance to the political weight of the large states, but regardless of the size of the state, it should be a citizen right to vote directly for their president. "Because of the winner-take-all system in each state, candidates don't spend time in states they know they have no chance of winning, focusing only on the tight races in the "swing" states" (Plumer, 13). This quote shows the unfairness to the voters, those in the smaller/more insignificant states don't even matter because of the electoral college! When voting, citizens also become confused with the electors, and potentially vote for their opposing party. Not only is the electoral college unfair for the voters, but for the presidental canidates as well. We as citizens vote for electors whom we must entrust to vote for the party's nominee. This trust is rarely betrayed, but "...it is entirely possible that the winner of the electoral bote will not win the national popular vote" (Posner, 16). In 2000, the election with Al Gore and George Bush, Gore won the popular vote, but did not win the electoral vote. The people wanted Gore to be the president, but he did not win, due to the unfairness of the ellectoral college.

Another reason I am in favor for the popular vote, is because of the faulty aspects of the electoral college system. A counterargument may be that the electoral college has held our country together, making the voting system a lot easier. But in my opinion this is not true. With popular vote, the citizens would just vote for the president, and whichever canidate recieves the most votes would win. But in the case of the electoral college, states cast only one vote for the entire state! ".. the single representative from Wyoming representing 500,000 voters, would have as much say as the 55 representatives from California" (Plumer, 12). The reason this is such a big deal is because, let's say that 10,000 people voted in Wyoming. 5,001 were republicans, and 4,999 were democrats. The electoral college would pick the elector representing the republican candidate. Thus, Wyoming's vote goes to the republican canidate. Without the ellectoral college though, those 4,999 votes would count, and would go toward helping the desired canidate win. Voting is an individual effort, and the electoral college does not allow for this.

As well as this fault, another fault is the fact that the electors could be anyone. "They can be anyone not holding public office... Can voters control whom their electors vote for? Not always" (Plumer, 10). Although in most cases the electors vote for the correct party, an elector still may not be trustworthy, or loyal. They may even be bias and vote for a different candidate. The electors do not campaign. Only the presidental canidates do. When we vote for the president, we are actually voting for the electors. Voters normally know little, to nothing about the electors. This makes for an even faultier voting experience.

To conclude, electoral colleges are not the way the voting system should be. With popular voting, there will be an assurance that the right candidate will win, the unfair ways of the ellectoral college will be diminished, and there will no longer be any faulty aspects of the voting system. Citizens vote to be heard, and with the electoral college, the people aren't heard as loud as they should be. Voting is a right and priveledge of an American citizien, and popular voting will ensure this right.

Score: 6