Presidential Election Essay Example for Free

Presidential Election Essay The democratic government of the United States of America has a different and unique of electing the head of their State. The use of Electoral College has been going on for tow centuries now. This electoral process has been used for many years. Many president of USA seated and led America because of this process Thou there are amendments in this process, still some critics finds this process unfair and unjust in choosing the president of the country. How Does Electoral College Work? The Electoral College is a process that was founded to compromise between election of the president by Congress and election by popular vote. In this process, each State is allocated a number of electors equal to the number of its U. S. Senators (always 2) plus the number of its U. S. Representatives. Instead of voting directly for a presidential candidate (and his or her vice-presidential running mate), voters vote for a slate of electors who are pledged to vote for a particular presidential ticket (president/vice-president team). The political parties in each state select a slate of electors. The electors selected by the party of the candidate winning the most popular votes in a state become the electors for that state. The number of electors for a State is based on the number of members in the House of Representatives who represent the State, plus two for the States Senators. The State’s population determines a State’s Congressional delegation (Nara, 2006). The number of electors is determined by Article II, section 1 paragraph 2 of the constitution (Fortier, 2004). These electors are selected by popular vote and (except in Maine and Nebraska) these popular votes are combined on a statewide basis. States may divide themselves into presidential electors, districts and combined the vote within each district. But in Maine and Nebraska, it was required that some lectors to be chosen in districts and some at large. Which ever the case maybe, the electoral vote of the state can be divided and cast for more than one presidential and vice presidential candidate (Fortier, 2004) The process is administered by the National Achieves and Records Administration (NARA) through the Office of the Federal Register. In United States elections they do not tally the total number of votes cast across the nations, instead they count it state-by-state. The candidate in the a Presidential election wins by getting the majority number of electoral votes. Because of this, a Presidential candidate who win the popular vote is likely to lose if he lost in the electoral vote. This happened in several occasions in the history if the United States. One of the recent was the 2000 Presidential Election between Bush and Gore. In cases that there is none of the candidate get the majority of votes, the congress chooses the President and the Senate chooses the Vice- President. If in case there have not chosen any president and vice president on the inauguration day then the next in line will act as the temporary president until the time they have chosen one. After the vice president, the rightful leader is the Speaker of the House then the President of the Senate. The 2000 Presidential Elections In the United States, the most â€Å"popular votes† does not always win. In 2000, presidential election where Al Gore won the popular vote, but he does not became the president of the United States because through a complex system involving representative votes, as well as a favorable court ruling he lost to George Bush. Only five 538 citizens really vote to choose for the president and vice president. This 200 hundred years old history of the Electoral College system is gathering so many negative reviews and proposal for reforms and amendments. According to Kimberling (2002) many critics have said that said that this process has many disadvantage and some of them are the following: †¢ The possibility of electing a minority president †¢ The risk of so-called faithless Electors †¢ The possible role of the Electoral College in depressing voter turnout, and †¢ Its failure to accurately reflect the national popular will. But there are people who believe in the efficieny of the system and state the following arguments: †¢ contributes to the cohesiveness of the country by requiring a distribution of popular support to be elected president †¢ enhances the status of minority interests, †¢ contributes to the political stability of the nation by encouraging a two party system, and †¢ maintains a federal system of government and representation. Conclusion The Electoral College System has been used for the past 200 hundred years in the election in the United States. The legislative body in USA must remember that time is changing and the system that was applicable 200 hundred years ago may not be applicasble anymore in the process of electing a president. Especially now, with the height of different technologies that can be used by the candidates for their advantage. It is good that they review and revised and if not totally abolished this system. They should be creative and resourceful enough to find the most suitable process of electing the president of the United States because it is the most important office in the United States of America References Fortier, John C. (2004) After the People Vote. American Enterprise Institute. 1:3 Kimberling, William (2002) The Electoral College. Retrieved on November 26, 2006. http://www. fec. gov/pdf/eleccoll. pdf NARA (2006) What is Electoral College. Retrieved on November 26, 2006. http://www. archives. gov/federal-register/electoral-college/electors. html