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Juan Donado

High School Student,

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Should Americans eliminate the Electoral College and elect their presidents through simple majority vote?

Given that some presidents have won without persuading the majority of Americans, and the huge deal of money spent only on swing states I ask myself that question

I have always thought that it is unfair that republicans in California or Democrats in Texas are not taken into account just because people around them think differently.

Time for change?

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    Henry Woeltjen 10+

    • +2
    Oct 24 2012: We don't need to eliminate the electoral college. We just need to realize our government has more positions than President. We need to consider our state elections and fill our congress with progressive thinkers...not biased individuals elected by lobbyists.

    • Ike Zach

      • 0
      Oct 24 2012: i.e., it isn't the systems, it is the voters don't use their right side of the brain when selecting their representatives.

      • John Smith 30+

        • 0
        Oct 24 2012: No, it really is in the system. If 74.9% of the public voted for Ghandi and 25.1% for Hitler, then Hitler could win the presidency if he won in all the right districts.

        The electoral college gave America George Bush and look at this British parliamentary election result that uses a similar regional winner-takes-all system:

        Conservatives: 10.7 million votes --> 306 seats
        Labour: 8.6 million votes --> 258 seats
        Liberal Democrats: 6.8 million --> 57 seats

        In fact the liberal democrats gained a greater percentage of the votes than in the previous election, yet they actually lost 5 seats! The British conservatives have traditionally been the biggest beneficiaries of the system, while the liberal democrats have made the popular vote one of their key platform issues.

        Like the British system the electoral college kills off third parties and makes people win elections with a minority of the votes.

      • ryan robinson

        • +1
        Oct 24 2012: It is about the system. Electoral colleges should be dropped and alternative vote should be enacted, it ensures an election that most people will truly be happy about, instead of an election based on important zones.

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