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Also check out my summary of Wikipedia's "Arguments in Favor of the Electoral College System"
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_College_%28United_States%29
Following the message from Wisconsin Family Action, I placed a quick outline of the benefits of the Electoral college system , followed by the same in greater detail.
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From Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_College_%28United_States%29
Arguments in favor of the Electoral College
(fast outline, detail follows the outline)--------------------
Prevents an urban-centric victory
Prevents a candidate from winning the Presidency by simply winning in heavily populated urban areas.Maintains the federal character of the nation
Forces candidates to pay attention to lightly populated states and their rules and reinforces the role of the state in federalism. Enhances status of minority groups
Candidates must court a wide variety of people including minorities and interest groups.Encourages stability through the two-party system
(Politicians must "...moderate their views to win broad, long-term support from across the entire nation.")Death, Legally Defined Disability To Execute the Office or Legal Disqualification From Office of a candidate
(What happens when a Presidential / Vice Presidential Candidate dies shortly before the election.)Isolation of election problems
(problems are limited to the state where it occurs.)Encapsulation of election system
Each state chooses its methods (i.e. voting system, vote-recording technology) without affecting other states.Neutralizes turnout disparities between states
Factors that affect the turnout (extreme Weather, hotly contested races, etc) are neutralizedMaintains separation of powers
(Read Full Paragraph below for detailed explanation)----------------------
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Detailed Version:
Arguments in favor of the Electoral College (From Wikipedia)
Prevents an urban-centric victory
Proponents of the Electoral College claim the Electoral College prevents a candidate from winning the Presidency by simply winning in heavily populated urban areas. This means that candidates must make a much wider appeal than they would if they simply had to win the national popular vote.[56]Maintains the federal character of the nation
The United States of America is a federal coalition which consists of component states. Proponents of the current system argue that the collective opinion of even a small state merits attention at the federal level greater than that given to a small, though numerically-equivalent, portion of a very populous state. The system also allows each state the freedom, within constitutional bounds, to design its own laws on voting and enfranchisement without an undue incentive to maximize the number of votes cast.For many years early in the nation's history, up until the Jacksonian Era, many states appointed their electors by a vote of the state legislature, and proponents argue that, in the end, the election of the President must still come down to the decisions of each state, or the federal nature of the United States will give way to a single massive, centralized government.[57]
In his book A More Perfect Constitution, Professor Larry Sabato elaborated on this advantage of the Electoral College, arguing to "mend it, don't end it," in part because of its usefulness in forcing candidates to pay attention to lightly populated states and reinforcing the role of the state in federalism.[58]
Enhances status of minority groups
Far from decreasing the power of minority groups by depressing voter turnout, proponents argue that, by making the votes of a given state an all-or-nothing affair, minority groups can provide the critical edge that allows a candidate to win. This encourages candidates to court a wide variety of such minorities and interest groups.[57]Encourages stability through the two-party system
Many proponents of the Electoral College see its negative effect on third parties as a good thing. They argue that the two party system has provided stability through its ability to change during times of rapid political and cultural change. They believe it protects the most powerful office in the country from control by what these proponents view as regional minorities until they can moderate their views to win broad, long-term support from across the entire nation.Death, Legally Defined Disability To Execute the Office or Legal Disqualification From Office of a candidate
The Constitution grants each state the right to appoint electors in a manner chosen by that state. While it is common to think of the electoral votes impersonally, as mere numbers, the Electoral College is in fact made up of real people (usually party regulars of the party whose candidate wins each state) with the capacity to adapt to unusual situations. That capacity might be particularly important if, for example, a candidate were to die or become in some other way legally disabled or disqualified to serve as President or Vice President. Advocates of the current system argue that these electors could then choose a suitable replacement (who would most likely come from the same party of the candidate who won the election) more competently than could the general voting public. Furthermore, the time period during which such a death or the onset of such a legal disability or disqualification might call for such an adaptation extends, under the Electoral College system, from before Election Day (many states cannot change ballots at a late stage) until the day the electors vote (the first Monday after the second Wednesday of December). Thus, until the electors cast their votes, it is not a federal issue, per se, but a state's rights issue and state laws (should) regulate the situation. In Virginia, for instance, the law clearly states that the electors must vote for the name of the candidate whom they represent on the ballot, and therefore these electors are not able to adapt to unusual situations, unless they are willing to violate the law, and suffer the penalties for so doing.In the election of 1872, Democratic candidate Horace Greeley did in fact die before the meeting of the Electoral College, resulting in Democratic disarray; the electors who were to have voted for Greeley split their votes across several candidates, including three votes cast for the deceased Greeley. However, President Ulysses S. Grant, the Republican incumbent, had already won an absolute majority of electors. Because it was the death of a losing candidate, there was no pressure to agree on a replacement candidate. There has never been a case of a candidate of the winning party dying.
In the election of 1912, after the Republicans had renominated President Taft and Vice President Sherman, Sherman died shortly before the election, too late to change the names on the ballot, thus causing Sherman to be listed posthumously. That ticket finished third behind the Democrats (Woodrow Wilson) and the Progressives (Theodore Roosevelt), and the 8 electoral votes that Sherman would have received were cast for Nicholas Murray Butler.
Isolation of election problems
Some supporters of the Electoral College note that it isolates the impact of any election fraud, or other such problems, to the state where it occurs. It prevents instances where a party dominant in one state may dishonestly inflate the votes for a candidate and thereby affect the election outcome. For instance, recounts occur only on a state-by-state basis, not nationwide.[59]Encapsulation of election system
The Electoral College allows for each state to conduct elections using whatever methods it chooses (i.e. voting system, vote-recording technology) without affecting other states. A national popular vote, by definition, requires all states to use plurality voting and would likely lead to national election rules and standards.Neutralizes turnout disparities between states
There are factors that affect the turnout around the country. Weather can vary greatly across a large nation, rain or winter storms can impact voter participation in affected states. In addition, when a state has another high profile contest, such as a hotly contested Senate or gubernatorial race, turnout in that state can be affected. Because the allocation of electoral votes is independent of each state's turnout, the Electoral College neutralizes the effect of all such turnout disparities between states.Maintains separation of powers
The Constitution separated government into three branches that check each other to minimize threats to liberty and encourage deliberation of governmental acts. Under the original framework, only members of the House of Representatives were directly elected by the people, with members of the Senate chosen by state legislatures, the President by the Electoral College, and the judiciary by the President and the Senate. The President was not directly elected in part due to fears that he could assert a national popular mandate that would undermine the legitimacy of the other branches, and potentially result in tyranny.Wikipedia content is property of Wikipedia. Wisconsin Family Action content is property of Wisconsin Family Action.
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