American Vote Really Count Thesis

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Does The American Vote Really Count?
Michelle Ellis
South University January 16, 2013

Author Note This paper was prepared for English 2001, Section 06, taught by Professor Phillips.

Thesis
Without the Electoral College, one sole human being or a party of political influence such as congress could possibly have too much governmental power. This is why the Founders chose to establish a safeguard of sorts to help with the checks and balances the Constitution refers to. Although very dated, this institution could benefit from some modernization. No longer do we have issues with communication: we have email, cell-phones and electronic voting machines. Prior
After an extensive review of ten articles, I have developed the following information: The President of the United States is not chosen due to popular vote, but rather due to the fact that the framers of the constitution created the Electoral College. Americans have questioned the system since its creation. (Uselton, 2008) The Electoral College was born due out of the the debate whether congress had the power to elect a president, or did the public’s national vote. One wonders if because we have such a democracy in place, does the American vote really count? Recently during the 2012 Presidential election, this researcher asked her husband if he had voted yet. He replied “yea, but who cares, it didn’t count anyway”. (W. K. Ellis, & M. J. Ellis, personal communication, November 13, 2012). It boggles the mind to think how many Americans think that and don’t even bother to get out and vote. I think as Americans we have lost our way in the political system. It is complex and difficult to understand. No longer do people gather at the barbershop to talk about politics and process. They spend their time watching sports on the big screen while waiting for their haircut. Poplar vote wins you nothing in the political arena; the big game takes place at the Electoral College. Let us start with the origins of our political system. The Electoral College was developed to assist in the debate of who
Bush was outpolled by Al Gore in the 2000 election. It was a victory short-lived due to the fact that Bush was the fourth president elected despite losing the popular vote. It is in fact, true that one can win the popular vote, but loose the Electoral College. Knowing this, many eyebrows have been raised over the Electoral College. According to Chapman, there have been numerous bills brought before congress to amend this issue, but would have no chance of passing. Chapman believes that the minority of senators from the overrepresented states would not allow the amendment to pass. Today, there is a movement calling for a more democratic alternative. This movement is called the National Popular Vote Plan. The main plan is have all states to agree to allocate their electoral college votes who wins the national popular vote, no matter which candidate wins in their state. This is similar to how Maine and Nebraska do their vote actually known as “populational proportion” . Chapman also believes that allowing the addition of two senators to each state changes the proportion of how much an individual vote is worth in each state. Additionally, he believes the Electoral College violates the one person, one vote rule which is a vital rule of a modern democracy. Gallup polls from 1944 to 2004 states that the majority of Americans would like to see the Electoral College abolished. (Chapman, 2012, p. 1.23). The United States Constitution does include a clause for