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The Electoral College

The November 2000 presidential election mess has renewed calls for the abolition of the electoral college. But Congress would have to pass a constitutional amendment, by a two-thirds vote, which would then have to be ratified by three-fourths of the states - and the electoral college does have its supporters.

The February/March 2001 issue of American Heritage magazine has an excellent article on the Electoral College, unfortunately it is not available on-line.

Pro

US Electoral College Web Zine - "Resources, References & Stories about the much maligned U.S. Electoral College"

Arguments in favor of the Electoral College:
  • It provides small states with a disproportionately larger say in the election; this is one of the Constitutional devices intended to keep small states from being dominated by large states.
  • If it were not for the Electoral College, most of the inefficiencies, inadequacies, irregularities and sometimes even fraud, that is inherent in our current election processes, would have remained unnoticed.
Con

The League Of Women Voters’ position on the election process - The LWV has long opposed the electoral college, this seems to be the focus of their position on election reform.

Citizens for True Democracy - CTD strongly opposes the electoral college. (But, ironically, over 60% of the respondents to their on-line poll are in favor of keeping the electoral college!)

Arguments against the Electoral College:
  • Bush was not the first man to be elected President while losing the popular vote. That is inherently unfair and undemocratic.
Neutral

U. S. Electoral College - "Welcome to the National Archives and Records Administration's Electoral College Home Page"

Constitutional Topic: The Electoral College - provided by the The U.S. Constitution Online.

The Electoral College: An Overview and Analysis of Reform Proposals

Click here for my opinion on this issue.
Do you know of any good sources of information on this issue? For contact info please see About ERIN.

Last updated 11/26/2001