Rate the following essay on its writing, argument, and language skills:
The electoral college is one of the most heavily criticized institutions in the American government system. It has been considered outdated and anti-democratic. However, without it, the balance of power in America would be skewed to an unacceptable degree. States with large populations would be disproportionately empowered, without the electoral college. This leaves the smaller states' existence to be controlled by the larger states, to the dismay of the American economy and people.

As it stands, most states vote in a way that presents a united front of electors to the electoral college. If just over half of the Californian voters vote for one candidate that they think would represent their interests, the map in source 3 shows that all 55 electors will present their votes to the college. It is better for California to be represented in this way so that the Californian economy would not be adversely effected by their minority voters. That sort of united front is beneficial to every state in the union, for the same reason.

The argument that the electoral college discourages voters of the minority party to vote is a valid criticism, but it is a problem that can be solved without the loss of the electoral college. Compulsory voting would be far more effective if voter turnout is an issue. People who would not have voted otherwise would still likely vote for the candidate they supported if voting was made mandatory.

In source 2, Bradford Plumer expressed dissatisfaction with the way political campaigns involving the electoral college focus on swing states rather than allowing equal debate in all states, but that does not make for a less desirable outcome. Dissolving the electoral college would make swing states irrelevant to presidential elections, as it'd be impossible to win votes in those states by any decent margin. Instead, campaigns would focus on the areas in which they already have an agreeable population, as to encourage them to vote, and get the most voters possible, using their resources. Trying to win states, rather than population, allows for voters to be more informed.

The electoral college might not be the best potential method for presidential elections. It is, however, far more desirable for such a large country than popular vote. Popular vote would lead to neglecting many areas of the economy that are important, but do not have a presence in states with large populations. It would make elections more one sided for each state at the same time. The problems the opponents say abolishing it would fix, would be fixed without it, but doing so would create far more problems than it solved. It is also easy enough to fix the same problems without abolishing the electoral college.

Score: 5