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Though I have not been alive to see most of it, I am sure that the debate on keeping the Electoral College or changing to election by popular vote has been going on for ages. Now, the words of a fourteen year old might not mean much to a state senator, especially since it will be four years until I am legally allowed to vote, but please sir, hear me out. I believe that we should keep the Electoral College for many reasons. One, if the president was decided by popular vote, our president might not be the best one for the country. Secondly, if it were up to a popular vote, the president might win, or not win, simply for being a regional favorite.

To start this off, if our president was decided by a popular vote, our president might not be the best thing for our country. As stated in the third article, paragraph 20, "The winner-take-all method of awarding electoral votes induces the candidates... to focus their campaign effors on the toss-up states." As you know, toss-up state's make the final vote. Therefore, people in these states are more likely to pay close attention to the campaign, and they will be the ones with the most information. If it were up to popular vote, then anyone over the age of 18 could randomly pick a winner. Let's be honest, the majority of eighteen year old's will vote on whoever their friends or family vote for, or even the candidate representing their group (Democratic or Republic). Many people, if the president was decided by popular vote, would make an uneducated decision on one of the canidates, not studying their choices as much as one would with the Electoral College system in place.

Secondly, if it were up to a popular vote, the president might simply win because he (or she) is a regional favorite. As stated in the third article, paragraph 19, "...because a candidate with only regional appeal is unlikely to be a successful president." Also in the paragraph, it states that no region has enough electoral votes to elect a president. If the president was decided by popular vote, however, can you imagine what it would be like? Take Romney, for example. He was a solid regional favorite in the South. Romney knew that there was no incentive to campaign heavily in the South, because he would not gain any electoral votes by increasing his plurilaty in states he knew he would win. If popularity decided the president, residents of the other regions might feel like their vote would not count, and that the president would have no regard for their interests. Say that popularity did actually determine a winner. While most regions might vote for a certain presidents, the ones that did not would feel like that the man running the country wasnt really "their president". However, Mr. Senator, if the Electoral College was to stay, this problem would never exist. With the system we have now, the people vote for your state's electors when they vote for the president. Most states also have a "winner-take-all" system. Therefore, the canidate with the most votes in a state win's that state's electors. This lets the voting be even, fair. A popular vote would make the voting unfair to those who did not want that president.

Now, of course, the other view has to be adressed. As stated in the second article, "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... During the 2000 campaign, seventeen states didn't see the candidates at all." This quote shows that the canidates might not go to a state they know they have no chance in winning. I can see how this could support changing to election by popular vote, and how it could be reasonable. If our president was chosen by popular vote, then he would visit all of the states, trying to win them over. However, there are some strong arguments against this. To begin with, one man would have to visit 50 states, and even if he only visited the majority, there is still a posibility that the state will not vote for him anyways, in the end. If we keep the Electoral College, then the majority of votes in a state would count, not his popularity. As a fourteen year old, I can relate this to highschool. A student can be the most popular student in the school, but they can also be the most rude and mean. And while another student may not be popular, they can be the nicest in the school. If the president was chosen by a popular vote, he might just end up being the worst thing that could happen to the country.

In conclusion, Mr. State Senator, I think that keeping the Electoral College is the best thing for our country. If we changed to election by popular vote, the man (or woman) might not be the best for our country, and the best man might not win because he is not a regional favorite. I hope, sir, that you will take my letter into account when you go to vote on this topic.

Score: 6