Baraza la Uchaguzi la Marekani

Baraza la Uchaguzi la Marekani (kwa Kiing.: Electoral College) ni mfumo wa uchaguzi unaotumika nchini Marekani kuchagua rais na makamu wake. Mfumo huu umewekwa na Katiba ya Marekani na unahusisha wajumbe (electors) kutoka kila jimbo ambao wanachaguliwa kupiga kura ya kuamua nani atakuwa rais na makamu wa nchi.

Mfumo huu ulianzishwa na Waasisi wa taifa la Marekani wakati wa kuandika Katiba mwaka 1787. Sababu kuu za kuanzishwa kwake ni pamoja na kuzuia ubaguzi wa wingi wa wapiga kura. Waasisi walitaka kuhakikisha kwamba wagombea hawashindi tu kwa kupata kura nyingi katika maeneo yenye idadi kubwa ya watu. Walihofia kwamba miji mikubwa inaweza kuhodhi uchaguzi, na kupuuza maslahi ya maeneo yenye watu wachache. Pia, waliweka mfumo huu ili kuleta usawa kati ya majimbo, kuhakikisha kuwa majimbo madogo na yale yenye idadi ndogo ya watu hayapotezi sauti zao katika uchaguzi wa kitaifa. Aidha, mfumo wa Baraza la Uchaguzi ulilenga kujenga uwiano kati ya wingi wa wapiga kura na uwakilishi wa majimbo, na kwa njia hiyo inaruhusu mfumo wa demokrasia usiotawaliwa na maeneo au jimbo moja.

Baraza la Uchaguzi linaundwa na wajumbe 538. Kila jimbo lina idadi ya wajumbe inayolingana na jumla ya wabunge wake, yaani, idadi ya wawakilishi katika Baraza la Wawakilishi pamoja na maseneta wawili kutoka kila jimbo. Washington D.C. pia ina wajumbe watatu, ingawa si jimbo. 

Katika kila uchaguzi, kila jimbo hufanya uchaguzi na mgombea anayepata kura nyingi (inayojulikana kama "winner-takes-all") hujishindia wajumbe wote wa jimbo hilo, isipokuwa Maine na Nebraska ambapo wajumbe wanagawanywa kwa mfumo wa uwiano. Baada ya uchaguzi wa kitaifa kufanyika, wajumbe hukutana katika miji mikuu ya majimbo yao Desemba, na kila mmoja hupiga kura zake mbili: moja kwa rais na nyingine kwa makamu wa rais. Kura za wajumbe hutumwa kwa Rais wa Seneti (ambaye ni Makamu wa Rais wa Marekani) na Januari 6 ya mwaka unaofuata, kura zote huhesabiwa rasmi katika kikao cha pamoja cha Bunge. Mgombea anayepata kura 270 au zaidi ndiye anayetangazwa kuwa mshindi wa urais.

Mfumo huu una faida zake, kama vile kuhakikisha uwiano wa kijimbo na kuzuia uhodhi wa miji mikubwa kwenye uchaguzi wa kitaifa. Kwa upande mwingine, mfumo huu pia una changamoto zake, kama vile kutofautiana na matokeo ya kura ya wapiga kura, ambapo mgombea anaweza kushinda kura nyingi za wananchi lakini akapoteza uchaguzi kwa sababu hakupata kura nyingi za wajumbe wa Baraza la Uchaguzi. Pia, mfumo wa "winner-takes-all" unaelekea kuwapa wajumbe kutoka majimbo ya "swing states" (majimbo yenye ushindani mkali mfano: Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, Nevada, New Hampshire) umuhimu mkubwa zaidi kuliko yale yenye wapiga kura wengi au wachache wa upande mmoja.

Kumekuwa na mijadala mingi kuhusu kubadili au kuondoa mfumo wa Baraza la Uchaguzi. Wafuasi wa mabadiliko wanapendekeza kuanzishwa kwa kura ya moja kwa moja ya kitaifa, ambapo mgombea mwenye kura nyingi zaidi anashinda, bila kujali uwiano wa kijimbo. Wengine wanatetea mfumo wa sasa kwa kusema kwamba unatoa uwakilishi mzuri zaidi wa kijiografia na unalinda maslahi ya majimbo madogo.

Kwa ujumla, Baraza la Uchaguzi ni sehemu muhimu na mtambuka ya mfumo wa uchaguzi wa Marekani. Ingawa umewezesha mchakato wa kipekee wa kidemokrasia, pia umeleta mijadala mingi kuhusu haki na uwiano katika uchaguzi wa kitaifa. Mfumo huu unaendelea kuwa na umuhimu mkubwa katika kuelewa siasa za Marekani na uchaguzi wa rais.
Marejeo
"The Electoral College: An Introduction" by James R. Vining
"The Road to the White House: The Electoral College and Presidential Elections" by Michael L. Bowers
"Electoral Systems and Political Change" by Benjamin Reilly
"How the Electoral College Works" by John M. Carey
"The American Electoral System: An Overview" by Alexander Keyssar
"Presidential Elections and the Electoral College" by Richard C. Box
"The Electoral College: A Historical and Comparative Perspective" by Robert A. Goldwin
"Understanding American Government: The Electoral College" by Michael A. Genovese
"The Politics of the Electoral College" by Nelson W. Polsby
"The History and Impact of the Electoral College" by William G. Howell
Jisomee
  Eric Foner, "The Corrupt Bargain" (review of Alexander Keyssar, Why Do We Still Have the Electoral College?, Harvard, 2020, 544 pp., ; and Jesse Wegman, Let the People Pick the President: The Case for Abolishing the Electoral College, St Martin's Press, 2020, 304 pp., ), London Review of Books, vol. 42, no. 10 (May 21, 2020), pp. 3, 5–6. Foner concludes (p. 6): "Rooted in distrust of ordinary citizens and, like so many other features of American life, in the institution of slavery, the electoral college is a relic of a past the United States should have abandoned long ago."
 Michael Kazin, "The Creaky Old System: Is the real threat to American democracy one of its own institutions?" (review of Alexander Keyssar, Why Do We Still Have the Electoral College?, Harvard, 2020, 544 pp., ), The Nation, vol. 311, no. 7 (October 5/12, 2020), pp. 42–44. Kazin writes: "James Madison [...] sought to replace [the Electoral College] with a national popular vote [...]. [p. 43.] [W]e endure with the most ridiculous system [on earth] for producing our head of state and government [...]." (p. 44.)

 George C. Edwards III, Why the Electoral College is Bad for America, second ed., New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 2011, .

Viungo vya nje

 The Electoral College  by the National Conference of State Legislatures
 The Electoral College by the National Archives and Records Administration

Jamii:Siasa ya Marekani
Jamii:Historia ya Marekani