The Electoral College is a system that helps balance the way our voting system works today. Many people feel that this system is no longer useful, but imagine if there was no Electoral College. What would happen?  States with more population and votes would rule the national election, leaving smaller states with almost no say in the national government.  For example, states like California, New York, Texas, and Florida would have the most votes and would control the national agenda.  On the other hand, states like Utah, Montana, Arkansas, Colorado, etc. would have no nearly say in how the country would be run.  The Electoral College is there to protect the smaller states and to give Americans who live in smaller states a meaningful say in who should become President.

The benefits of the Electoral College include:

1. This country’s Founding Fathers established the Electoral College because they thought it was the best method to choose the President.  They wanted this because this would ensure that no uneducated and uninformed electors would vote, and instead put it in the hands of the electors more likely to make a better and more deliberate decision, one decided by the voters of their state.
2. The Electoral College makes it easier for candidates to campaign.  Most Democrat states, like California, won’t be the big problem for the Democrats. Most Republican states, like Texas, the Republican candidate knows it’s on their side. But, the candidate would spend their money on battleground or swing states like Florida, Georgia, Nevada, etc. Some people argue that if there were no Electoral College, campaigning would be more expensive than it would have to be or it would be concentrated in places that are not representative of the country as a whole.  For example, winning New York City alone would be worth more than winning Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Indiana combined.  But, people in those states have real issues that should be discussed by national candidates.

Also, the electors in the Electoral College are the people that actually vote for the Presidential candidate.  These people are appointed by the state governor. Your vote helps decide who these people are and, therefore, helps to elect the candidate that you want to win. It’s not that hard of a system to keep track of.

In my opinion, I think we need to respect and try to understand the system that the founders who wrote the US Constitution put in place. This option, while complicated, is an important part of our voting system.  This system has worked for over 200 years and is a strong way to help keep all of our voting rights in place, no matter where we choose to live in this country.