Abolish the Electoral College

Of all the possibilities that I present in “Different Alternatives to Reforming the Electoral College”, the elimination of the Electoral College is the one that I would like to see prevail. Abolishment of the Electoral College would provide the most democratic solution to ensuring that the loser of the popular vote does not have an opportunity to win the presidency as we have seen in the 2000 presidential election.

Prior to the controversial election of 2000, there have been different occasions in our nation’s history where the Electoral College has failed. For example, in 1796 John Adams was a candidate for the presidency and his opponent was Thomas Jefferson. Adams running mate was Thomas Pickney, but Jefferson received more votes than Pickney. Thus, Jefferson became Adams Vice – President because at that time the person with the second highest votes automatically became Vice-President. Also, in the following election of 1800, there was a tie between Thomas Jefferson and his vice – presidential running mate Aaron Burr. As a result, the 12th Amendment declared electors to specify their vote for president and vice president. However, problems still persist with Faithless Electors either casting a blank ballot, or casting a ballot for a different presidential candidate that they vowed to vote for. Thus, direct election of the president would rectify the issues that are inherent in the current Electoral College.