Can you explain why we have the electoral college?

Question

I just believe that if someone wins by the popular vote, they should become the president. What are the advantages of the electoral college?

Answer 1

because some people (and several are posting on Y!A) base their votes on gender, age, looks, speeches, race, etc...

Answer 2

It's to keep states relevent.  If it was based on popular votes, the "fly over states" would be neglected as 80% of the U.S. population lives 100 miles or less from the ocean or Great Lakes.

Answer 3

In order to appreciate the reasons for the Electoral College, it is essential to understand its historical context and the problem that the Founding Fathers were trying to solve. They faced the difficult question of how to elect a president in a nation that:

was composed of thirteen large and small States jealous of their own rights and powers and suspicious of any central national government

contained only 4,000,000 people spread up and down a thousand miles of Atlantic seaboard barely connected by transportation or communication (so that national campaigns were impractical even if they had been thought desirable)

believed, under the influence of such British political thinkers as Henry St. John Bolingbroke, that political parties were mischievous if not downright evil, and

felt that gentlemen should not campaign for public office (The saying was "The office should seek the man, the man should not seek the office.").

How, then, to choose a president without political parties, without national campaigns, and without upsetting the carefully designed balance between the presidency and the Congress on one hand and between the States and the federal government on the other?

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Direct election was rejected not because the Framers of the Constitution doubted public intelligence but rather because they feared that without sufficient information about candidates from outside their State, people would naturally vote for a "favorite son" from their own State or region. At worst, no president would emerge with a popular majority sufficient to govern the whole country. At best, the choice of president would always be decided by the largest, most populous States with little regard for the smaller ones.

Answer 4

We have the electorial college because we are a collection of Individual states. In many ways different little countries. In the beginning of this country people saw themselves as more from a certain state. They would say they were from a certain state when asked not the USA. It is the only way all these separate states could agree to form a union , otherwise what reason would the smaller states join the union if they would just always be out voted by the larger more populous states.

Answer 5

There are no advantages of the Electoral College -- unless, of course you are one of the few people who actually run this country.

The popular vote has never elected an American president, and in fact has been overturned at least twice.  Remember seeing the front page of the newspaper that claimed "Dewey Defeats Truman"?  

Even if you're young, you should have seen that in history class.

And who can forget the hanging chads of the last election -- and subsequent supreme court suit to follow.

This is the only example I can think of that disproves "your vote counts."

And I like the NEW word, "electioneering"   !

Answer 6

The purpose of the electoral college is to give some 'weight' to less populated states.  Without the college, candidates would only need to placate the 'big' states e.g. California, Florida, Texas, New York, etc and ignore the needs of Kansas, South Dakota, Georgia, etc.  

It's an imperfect solution, but... how else could _all_ states be engaged in the election?

Answer 7

It was designed to lessen the possibility of corrupting the vote.  The actual votes are carried out locally, without a national clearinghouse. Then an area's winner declared.  That representative would go to Washington to declare who won that particular area.

If it ends up a tie, they can easily double check to be sure the votes are not wrong.  If you had millions of votes to go back through it could take awhile.

Answer 8

The electoral college was historically created because "common people" were thought to be too stupid to pick leaders.  Why it's still in place is beyond me.

Answer 9

The electoral college is where the electors go and receive a education in elections and electioneering. The old people at the polling station get various degrees in party affiliation, lobbyists, the constitution, and so on.