The seat of the president in the United States is important in the political process. In the history of the American election, it has happened five times in election where a candidate who has won the popular vote ends up losing the election. In another case, George Bush won the 2000 elections despite losing on popular vote. The present electoral system in the United States does not allow voters to vote for the preferred presidential candidate directly. As a result, renewed interest in the Electoral College has been generated by the election cycle. The process by which the American president and vice president are elected has become a point of concern for a majority of the people across the country. The electoral process in America is complex because it entails a multitude of primary elections, nationwide voting, and lastly the Electoral College. The Electoral College is where the electors from various states are allowed to vote for the presidential candidates. On the contrary, the popular vote is where the aggregate of the votes determines the presidential winner. The conflict between the use of the Electoral College and the popular vote during the election of the president has erupted in the United States. Undoubtedly, the National Popular Vote is superior to the Electoral College system in various ways.
Essentially, the structure of the Electoral College entails representative republic, where all the electors elected in each state of the United States take part in choosing the president. The number of electors that take part in the Electoral College is 538, and a presidential candidate is supposed to have 270 of electoral votes that translate to over 50% to win the seat (Josephson, 2018). On the other hand, popular vote entails direct democracy. Voters have the right to elect the preferred candidates where each person’s vote counts on the ultimate results of the election.
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The Electoral College entails a progression of the vote; and the process is not straight forward since those who are chosen as representatives decide for many citizens. Voters take part in the election to vote for the representatives who in turn take part in the Electoral College process. The delegates or representatives vote for the presidential candidate based on party affiliations or allegiance. The winner of the vote is declared as the winner for the presidential seat. Contrastingly, in the popular vote, eligible voters are given the choice of selecting a person of their choice for a specific position. The popular vote is straight forward because the casted votes for the presidential candidate are counted and a candidate with the majority of votes is elected to be the president. The popular vote process shows why a vote of a person plays an integral part in determining the president in the United States.
Certainly, the passage of the proposal to the National Popular Vote movement will aid in enhancing fairness in the electoral process. The approach puts more emphasis on making sure that a person who gets a majority of votes in the entire nation is declared to be the president. National Popular Vote movement will make the campaigns to shift from the battleground states to regions with large concentrations of population. There is no fairness in Electorate College because officials direct the electors to cast their votes in a particular way without considering the outcomes of their states. The adoption of the National Popular Vote movement will require state electors to convince people from their states to cast their votes in support to a particular candidate; hence they have a direct impact on the outcome.
Additionally, the National Popular Vote movement has little mechanical issues as compared to the Electoral College. The rapid advancement in technology has made it possible for the voters to have easy access to essential information to make informed decisions in a manner that the Founding Fathers had not foreseen it. The Electoral College is not ideal because the electors may be biased and choose the president based on political lines regardless of their opinions concerning a particular candidate. Therefore, it is essential to declare a person with a majority of the votes to be the president (Maskin, & Sen, 2017). The act shows that people are aware of what is expected from them and made an informed decision by choosing a candidate of their choice.
The National Popular Vote movement gives each person equal rights to choose his or her preferred presidential candidate. The Electoral College approach provides more power to swing states where the presidential election is decided by a handful of states that have more electors. Individual states are aligned to either of the main political parties, for instance, California is aligned to the Democratic Party while Indiana is for the Republican Party. The presidential campaigns require the candidates to pay attention to a limited number of states that change the final results of the Electoral College. The National Popular Vote movement is superior because all the people from each state will have the right to choose a candidate based on his or her ideologies. The approach will make sure that presidential candidates make their campaigns in all the states of the nation.
Also, the National Popular Vote movement puts into consideration the will of people. All the registered voters are eligible to choose their preferred candidates. Under the Electoral College, 538 people are allowed to decide who will be the president on behalf of more than 300 million people in the country. During the 2016 presidential election, despite winning the popular vote, Hillary Clinton lost the seat to President Donald Trump (Procon.org 2017). President Trump who gained from the system still believed that a president should be selected by popular vote. The National Popular Movement is suitable because the results of the presidential election will reflect the will of the vast majority. The development of a system assures voters that there will be no voter disenfranchisement, thus it is better placed in making sure that each vote counts. The method allows people to make the right choices because a candidate with the most votes becomes the president. Therefore, the results are a reflection of the will of people; hence the chosen president must be accountable to all the citizens in the country. National Popular Vote movement is in line with the principle that individuals are supposed to be allowed to select people to govern them.
In conclusion, there has been a continued debate in the United States concerning the electoral process of the president and vice president. People are divided over the same issues because there are people who believe that each vote of a person must count in the presidential election outcome. Individuals in support of the current electoral process believe that it essential for the electors to decide the winner of the presidential elections. The Electoral College differs from the National Popular Vote movement; Electoral College involves electors who choose on behalf of the Americans while under the National Popular Vote movement, each vote counts in the process. The National Popular Vote movement is superior compared to the Electoral College. The approach provides all the citizens with equal rights to choose their preferred candidates, has little mechanical issues due to rapid advancement in technology and the will of people counts in the entire process.
References
Josephson, W. (2018). Presidential Elections: National Popular Vote, Elector Unit Rule Voting and Related Issues.
Maskin, E., & Sen, A. (2017). A better way to choose presidents. The New York Review of Books .
Procon.org. 2017. "The Electoral College: Top 3 Pros And Cons - Procon.Org". Procon.Org . https://www.procon.org/headline.php?headlineID=005330.
