Electoral System.

[Mobil1]

does our current Electoral system, with the Electoral College truly allow the people in our country to voice their opinion by going to the polls?

if a candidate can win the popular vote and still lose the electoral doesnt that mean that someones vote didnt really matter?

im all for the electoral system actually, but id like to hear some educated debate on it.

[civperc]

It works very well, imo. I'll write some more on this later.

[cheld]

The whole reason for the electorial system is that it evens the playing field for rural and urban citizens. If the election was run based on popular vote, a candidate could easily win an election running only on the east and west coast in major cities. With the electorial college, this is prevented. It doesn't matter if Kerry wins 51% of the vote in California or 99% of the vote, he wins the same number of delegates. This forces candidates to campaign in the mid-west and south, where there are not as many highly populated areas.

Essentially, the founding fathers were trying to resolve the issue of whether a president should be chosen by a majority of the population, or a majority of the states. This was also the debate that occured when choosing the legislature. So, the founding father incorporated both into their plan, and thus resolved the issue. It works well, and I highly doubt we'll see a change to it unless some severe action occur.

Then, of course, there are some states that disagree. Maine already splits it's delegates, making it really a popular vote state (if you receive 50% of the vote, you win 2 of the 4 delegates. 75% wins 3 of the 4). Colorado is preparing to move to a similar system.

[Leo]

why should Rhode Island have equal senate representation as Texas, California, and New York?

[Mobil1]

why should Rhode Island have equal senate representation as Texas, California, and New York?bicameral legislature, one house of congress (the house of representitives) is designed to represent the citizens, the other (the senate) is designed to represent the state it self.

[cheld]

why should Rhode Island have equal senate representation as Texas, California, and New York?

It doesn't. California has 55 electors and 34 million people. Rhode Island has 3 electors and 1 million people (all 2004 numbers based on 2000 census). If we went to a straight popular vote, Rhode Island would be meaningless and there would be no reason to campaign there at all. The electoral college allows Rhode Island to at least play a part in the outcome of the election, while still providing California with a much larger say in the overall scheme of things because of its much larger population. Basically, it tries to balance state needs and population.

Sure, state needs are not that important when looking at one state, but when you look at an entire region, like the midwest, it becomes obvious why we need the electoral college. Without the college, the midwest would probably be completely ignored.

edit: oh senate representation you changed the topic. Next post coming.

[MuddyJEEP.com]

It doesn't. California has 55 electors and 34 million people. Rhode Island has 3 electors and 1 million people (all 2004 numbers based on 2000 census). If we went to a straight popular vote, Rhode Island would be meaningless and there would be no reason to campaign there at all. The electoral college allows Rhode Island to at least play a part in the outcome of the election, while still providing California with a much larger say in the overall scheme of things because of its much larger population. Basically, it tries to balance state needs and population.

Sure, state needs are not that important when looking at one state, but when you look at an entire region, like the midwest, it becomes obvious why we need the electoral college. Without the college, the midwest would probably be completely ignored.

edit: oh senate representation you changed the topic. Next post coming.
thanks for being smart :thumb: ......I appreciate the info and the time that went into it....

[Leo]

It doesn't. California has 55 electors and 34 million people. Rhode Island has 3 electors and 1 million people (all 2004 numbers based on 2000 census). If we went to a straight popular vote, Rhode Island would be meaningless and there would be no reason to campaign there at all. The electoral college allows Rhode Island to at least play a part in the outcome of the election, while still providing California with a much larger say in the overall scheme of things because of its much larger population. Basically, it tries to balance state needs and population.

Sure, state needs are not that important when looking at one state, but when you look at an entire region, like the midwest, it becomes obvious why we need the electoral college. Without the college, the midwest would probably be completely ignored.

edit: oh senate representation you changed the topic. Next post coming.



ok.

i was talking about votes in the senate.

[cheld]

bicameral legislature, one house of congress (the house of representitives) is designed to represent the citizens, the other (the senate) is designed to represent the state it self.

That's correct, and the above post still somewhat applies. The problem with moving to a population only system is that major portions of the country become neglected because they have a smaller population. A population-only based legislature might direct all of its highway funds, for instance, to California, New York, Pennsylvannia, New Jersey, etc. while neglecting Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, etc.

Edit: and I should add that the House of Representatives actually has more power in terms of state affairs because all appropriations bills start in the House. The Senate is often seen as more glamourous because there are less of them (thus, individual senators have more power than individual congressmen), they have longer terms, and because they confirm appointments.

[cheld]

thanks for being smart :thumb: ......I appreciate the info and the time that went into it....

Thanks. I'm not really that smart, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night *rimshot* I'm not really that funny either.