Dear Senator,

According to an excerpt titled "What is the Electoral College?" by the Office of the Federal Register, the Electoral College is a process established by the founding fathers in the Constitution "as a compromise between election of the President by a vote in Congress and election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens."(Source 1.1) This process consists of a selection of 538 electors, the meeting of the electors where they vote for President and Vice President, and the counting of the electoral votes by Congress with a majority of 270 needed to be elected president. (Source 1.2-3)

The system of Electoral College is one of much controversy as to what to do with it. Keep it or toss it? 'Tis the question. According to an excerpt of The Indefensible Electoral College: Why even the best-laid defenses of the system are wrong by Bradford Plumer, a Gallup poll taken in 2000, says that over 60% of voters would prefer a direct election to the one we have now. Apparently, the electoral college has failed us throughout the years because of the unfairness it can sometimes have. One example being presidential candidate, Al Gore, who was cheated out of his postion by the electoral college. The electoral college has caused "close election(s) in which the popular vote winner can again lose the presidency". (Source 2.9)

On the contrary, In Defense of the Electoral College: Five reasons to keep our despised method of choosing the President, an excerpt by Richard A. Posner, has a point when it says that when the people vote for the President they're actually voting for a slate of electors, thus each party votes for the electors who are trusted to vote for the right nominee. It says that very rarely has this trust been betrayed, only happening in 2000, when Gore was hijacked of his position, and centuries earlier in 1888. (Source 3.15-16)

So to keep or toss the Electoral College? 'Tis the question indeed, but the Electoral College has been proven to operate well enough for everyone for the past few centuries since the Constitution was made and the presidents were elected. It was said to fail us in the future but through 44 presidents it has only failed us a few times. Maybe we don't need to see the Electoral College in a black and white, keep it or toss it fashion but think to shape it so the system works better and in favor of the people with fewer kinks.

Please take this into your humbled consideration dear Senator,

PROPER_NAME   