There is a lot contraversy regarding the Electoral College system of voting in the United States. Some voting members would argue that the system, although flawed, has yet to make a monumental mistake, and say that the minor issues were resolved or at the very least barely effective in the overall outcome of the capmaign. However, with the flaws and holes in the system we have alerady experienced, there is bound to be many more mistakes, and it would be shocking to very few that some of those mistakes are catastrophic. We should remove the system of the Electoral College because it is questionable, problematic, and does not represent well our democracy.

The Elecoral College uses a group of people from each state, numbers varying from each, to represent voters in an election. The voters mark down a candidate on a ballot. However, they are actually voting for a group of strangers to represent them. Many voters do not even realize that this is the case. In politics, there are many powerful and influential people who will go to drastic measures to ensure that their ideas somehow make it to power. Bribes and insentives could easily be given to electors in attempts to sway their vote. Speaking of, these electors can be anyone who are not in a public office position, emphasis on the anyone. Voters can never really be sure that they can trust those strangers who they did not even get to select. Once the votes have been counted, voters cannot fully control who the elctors actually vote for. There have been instances where electors have attempted to completely avert the votes cast and choose a different candidate that they want in office. It only seems logical that voters should have a direct say in the presidential election by participating in an election by popular vote. This way, there is less opportunity for scandal and confusion in the voting process.

In 1960, a group of segretationists in the Louisiana legislature almost succeeded in removing electors who supported John F. Kennedy with those who opposed him. If this had happened, all of the states electoral votes would have been cast by biased electors, rather than by the actual voters themselves. In the same year, Hawaii sent two state electors to congress instead of one. It is sad that we maintain a system in our government that continues to let issues like this arise. Along with issues with the electors, why is it that the size of a state automatically gives it a bigger advantage in elections? Texas and California are the most two saught-after swing states in every election. Candidates will do everything they can to win over those electoral votes. But what about the little states? Many of the smaller states do not get visited by candidates. Some never even see campaign ads. This system we are using creates target areas in the United States that are more valuable in elections than others. This is in no way fair to the voters in smaller states, despite having the exact same rights as voters of bigger states. The Electoral College is proving to be less and less glamorous with every passing election. Slip ups like this can create a monumentally bad situation, and unfortunately, this system is only bound to create more.

Many people remember the problem of the 2000 presidential election. The Electoral College had very effectively exemplified its flaws and unefficient ways of opperating. Al Gore and George Bush were running apposed, and despite winning the overall popular vote in the country, Gore lost the election to Bush. Bush had received the most electoral votes, therefore winning him the presidency. Basically, despite the fact that more citizens chose Gore to be president, Bush won out. In our constitution it is written that citizens of the United States have an unwavering right to vote and select who gets put into office. In this case, it sounds more like the number of electoral votes has an unwavering right to select who gets put into office. This goes against a democratic republic way of opperating our country and, in many ways, makes it more difficult for cititzens to take advantage of their rights.

For as many frustratingly resolvable problems that are created by the Electoral College, there are certain things about the Electoral College that could possibly make it worth keeping. For instance, there technically is no region of the country that has enough electoral votes to vote a president into office, so no one area of the controls large numbers of votes. Along with this, the system helps avoid Run-Off Elections (which complicate the election process and provide a clear winner). However, having a straightforward election where the votes come straight from citizens is most constitutional and much less problematic. The process has been used for a long time in our country, but it is time to make a change.

The Electoral College has proven to be more trouble than it's worth. Our country needs to decide what is within best interest for representation of our citizens, the most efficient way to opperate one of our most sacred constitutional rights, and maintain our democracy as members of our wonderful country. Remove the Electoral College system.