The electoral college is a very controversial topic.  It has been debated by important figures like Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, and Bob Dole (Plumer).  While some people agree with Bradford Plumer and say that we should abolish this method, others stand behind Richard A. Posner, wanting to keep the electoral college.  Although the electoral college restores some of the weight in larger states, it is a very unfair method for voting on our president.  The electoral college allows someone to win the presidency who did not win the popular vote, and, if a tie occurs, the outcome is demeaning to larger states.

The electoral college does have a favorable trait.  It restores some of the weight in the political balance that larger states (by population) lose by virtue of the mal-apportionment of the Senate decreed in the Constitution (Posner). The senate only appoints 2 representatives per state, no matter how large their populations are.  The electoral college gets rid of this problem, assigning representitives to states based on population.

While that aspect of the electoral college is beneficial, it may be the only thing.  The electoral college is an extremely unfair method.  Just take the 2000 election, for instance.  Al gore won the popular vote but, thanks to this flawed method of selecting our president, lost the presidency (Plumer).  This was uncalled for.  If someone wins the popular vote and is wanted as president by the majority of people, then they should be president.  Our president is a position of the utmost importance.  We should have a leader that the majority of the people want.

Not only is the actual process unfair, but if there ever happens to be a tie it's even worse.  In the event of a tie in the electoral vote, the election is passed on to the House of Representatives, who then have the state delegations vote on the president (Plumer).  However, the catch is that each state gets only one vote (Plumer).  This means that the single represenative from Wyoming, representing 500,000 voters, would have as much say as the 55 representatives from California, who represent 35 million voters (Plumer).  This process is extremely unequal and should not be allowed.  Everyone should be able to have equal representation and play a part in critical decisions like this one.

All in all, the electoral college is unfair and people despise it.  According to a poll in 2000, over 60 percent of voters would prefer a direct election to the kind we have now (Plumer).  The electoral college, while it may restore some of the weight in larger states, is detested all across the United States.  The person with the popular vote doesn't always win, and, in the event of a tie, the process is even more unfair than the actual method itself. The electoral college is an awful process that the majority of people don't want.  So why is it still here?