The US Presdential Election.

Essay by BIGTOEMASO September 2003

download word file, 2 pages 0.0

I was contemplating the 2000 Presidential elections the other day, and I asked myself how the one candidate lost by receiving over 500,000 more votes (539,947 to be precise) than the nearest competitor (Bush 50,456,169 votes; Gore 50,996,116 votes). I have always had the notion that the person who receives the most votes wins. Right? I guess not. So, with that aside, I was contemplating what I can do as a US citizen to change this 'system' and make it right.

As a recap, here's how the President of the United States is elected: When you personally go to the poles in November to vote for the President of the United States, you are actually NOT directly voting for the President of the United States. Instead, you are voting for an unnamed representative that belongs to the 'electoral college' to vote on your behalf. The unnamed representative will cast a vote for the State that they are representing, in December, to vote for the president.

The candidate who receives at least 270 electoral votes will then become President.

Have you ever asked yourself why, with the information age and the technology that is available today, do you and I not vote directly for the President of the United States? I mean, take a look at the 17th Amendment of the US Constitution. The 17th Amendment, which was ratified in 1913, changed the voting for Senators of the United States. Before the 17th Amendment, a Senator would be elected into office by the 'state legislatures'. This Amendment changed the system to have them "elected by the people". The full electorate, aka you and me should be voting for the President of the United States and not this electoral college. If the system has been changed once before, why...