Electoral College Pol201

briefly summarize how the Electoral College works. Explain some of the main pros and cons in the debate about whether to keep or abolish the current Electoral College process. Also explain one proposal to change how the system works without formally abolishing it. Evaluate the various arguments and the proposal. Include at least two perspectives in your assessment:

* Your judgment about the relevance of the Electoral College's underlying rationale to contemporary America.

* Your judgment about its impact on presidential leadership capacity.

Currently, the Electoral College includes 538 electors, 535 for the total number of congressional members, and three who represent Washington, D.C., as allowed by the 23rd Amendment. On the Monday following the second Wednesday in December, the electors of each state meet in their respective state capitals to officially cast their votes for president and vice president. Most of the time, electors cast their votes for the candidate who has received the most votes in that particular state. Some states have laws that require electors to vote for the candidate that won the popular vote, while other electors are bound by pledges to a specific political party.

Some of the cons of the electoral college are these, as stated in (Bates, N. 2004) "All votes are not counted equally under the Electoral College. Tiny Wyoming has an inflated number of electoral votes--three--because every state is awarded a minimum of three (one for its member of Congress and two for each senator). California, with a population over fifty times as large as Wyoming, has only a little more than eighteen times as many electoral votes. This means that a vote in Wyoming counts about three times more than a vote in California."

Also, there have been times when electors have voted contrary to the people's decision, and there is no federal law or Constitutional provision against it. "Another untoward effect of the Electoral College is the emphasis placed upon so-called swing states, which leads to the neglect of the voters in the majority of states where one party or the other holds sway. " (Bates, N. 2004)

An argument in favor of the College states "Members of small states argue that if the system were abolished presidents would never bother visiting--or even advertising. Why visit a small state with a media market that reaches, say, 100,000 people, when a visit to a large state can put the candidate in touch with millions?" (Bates, N. 2004).

One proposal to ratify the Electoral College was H.J.Res. 8, the Every Vote Counts Amendment, was introduced on January 4,

2005, by Representative Gene Green, and was cosponsored by Representatives Brian

Baird and William D. Delahunt. The amendment sought to provide for direct popular