Sunday, October 21, 2012

Why We Should Shift from the Electoral College

After discussion in my Contemporary World Affairs (CWA) Class, we've been talking about the Electoral College, and how votes in non-swing states really don't count towards the election. Why so?
Well, because the candidates know that states like New York (where I was born) and New Jersey (where I currently reside in) or states like Texas that they are pretty much "in-the-bag". They focus on swing states like Ohio and Florida that really determine who the winner is. Doesn't that seem unfair to you? That your vote necessarily does not even count towards the actual election. A lot of people agree the same way, it's ridiculous that a candidate can win the popular vote, but lose the election. How Come? A Flawed System. It's out-of-date, the Electoral College was forged by our Founding Fathers who created our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution. Our rights are owed to these men who fought for their right of freedom.
Yet, in this present time we should change it. There's things back in the 1700's when this country was founded that don't hold the same anymore, Slavery- you do not see any more slaves in this country right now, and Civil Rights given to people like me, a Haitian-American male that were amendments added to the Constitution over the years of this great nation. Change is needed.

     That's why a lot of people support this National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, already having 49% of the votes needed out of the majority of 270 (2/3) to be put into effect. It says that the candidate that wins all of the popular vote wins all the electoral votes of the whole nation. So every vote counts. I was arguing with my Mother and my sister as they do not see to that. They are in their own little fantasy of "The Electoral College is the perfect system" and so on. Electors can go to Washington and change their votes to whoever they choose as the Electoral College is non-binding. That gets me infuriated. That's why I support this Popular Vote change to make every vote in the United States count. Isn't that what our Founding Fathers wanted? - " No candidate to be elected that goes against a majority of the American People." - In some rendition. With the technology we have in our possession today we definitely can count all the votes of the country. Why not take advantage of that? That's why we should shift to this system, an updated system that will improve our nation significantly.

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