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Dear Florida Senator,

There has been much controversy over whether or not we should keep the Electoral College or have it removed and vote on the president based on popular vote.  I believe the best decision is to change to an election by popular vote for the President of the United States.  If the system would change, people would feel like their votes actually matter more then they do now.  They wouldn't have to worry about the electors flipping sides. Some people though, do say that the way the election is now is completely fair in the case of votes are based on population.

To begin with, if the Electoral College was to be taken out of use, more people would feel like their vote matters.  Although you may think you are voting for your choice of president, you are not.  As of now, when you cast your vote, you are actually just voting for your candidate's electors, as said in "What Is the Electoral College".  In the 2000 campaign, voters in seventeen states didn't have a chance to see the candidates at all.  Those candidates went mainly to the "swing" states, or states that were not certain on who they would be voting for.  The states unvisited, such as Rhode Island and South Carolina, were passed over because the candidates knew they would or wouldn't have their vote no matter what.  The ones who questioned their vote did not have the chance to see either candidate in their state.  In, "In Defense of the Electoral College: Five reasons to keep our despised method of choosing the President", the Romney and Obama election is mentioned.  It brings up the fact that Romney knew that throughout the South, he was going to get their vote.  He realized that there was no need to go there because he didn't need anymore popularity in the South because he had already gained their electoral votes.  Those who opposed Romney in the southern states felt that their votes would not matter because majority already knew they were voting for Romney.  If the system were to change, which I believe it should, more people would feel their votes mattered no matter what state they were in.

In addition to feeling like your vote matters, people never know if the electors would flip their desicions.  The slate of electors is not picked by the people.  It is said in, "The Indefensible Electoral College: Why even the best-laid jdefenses of the system are wrong", that sometimes the state conventions, the party's central committee, or the presidential candidates themselves choose who will be their electors.  That being said, you don't know whether or not the electors will follow your choice of president or not.  For example, in 1960, some electors refused to vote for their party's candidate and they chose whomever they wanted. If we were to switch the way things are now, that would not happen.  A poll taken in 2000 called the Gallup poll, showed that over 60% of voters prefered a direct election rather then the kind we have now.  This took place when Al Gore recieved the popular vote, but lost the electoral votes.  You can see that the current system has its flaws.

Many people say that it is fair for all states because of their amount of electoral votes.  For example, in "In Defense of the Electoral College: Five reasons to keep our despised method of choosing the President", Florida, which has a much larger population than Wyoming, recieved 29 electoral votes for Obama while Wyoming only had 3 electoral votes.  This, at the same time though, makes candidates want to only go to the larger states to try to get their votes.  The smaller states once again feel left out and unappreciated.

In conclusion, I strongly feel that we need to change to an election by popular vote.  Above all, it is more fair to the people.  Citizens would feel that their votes matter more than they do now.  People wouldn't have to be worried about if the electors would flip on what they had voted for.  Although some say its is absolutely fair throughout all the states, there are still the set backs that come along with keeping an Electoral College.  I agree with former presidents, Nixon and Carter, that we need to abolish the Electoral College.  All of these reasons show you the problems there are with the current system of electing our President and I know you will agree.

Score: 5