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Pros
1. The Electoral College, in
recognizing a role for states in the selection of the president, reminds
us of their importance in our federal system.
2. The Electoral College encourages
more person-to-person campaigning by candidates, as they spend time in both
the big cities and smaller cities in battleground states.
3. In close, contested
elections, recounts will usually be confined to a state or two, rather than
an across-the-country recount that might be required if we had direct
election of the president.
4. The Electoral College, with
its typical winner-take-all allocation of votes, often turns a small
percentage margin of victory into one that appears much larger, thus making
the victory seem more conclusive and adding to the winner's perceived
legitimacy.
5. It’s fun on election nights
to watch states light up in different colors on television network maps of
the U. S.
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Cons
1.
When the winner of the Electoral College is not the candidate who
received the most votes of the people, the new president will face questions
about his legitimacy.
2. Most Americans believe that
the person who receives the most votes should become president. Direct
election is seen as more consistent with democratic principles than the
Electoral College system.
3. The Electoral College gives disproportionate
weight to the votes of citizens of small states. For example, a vote by a
resident of Wyoming counts about four times more, electorally, than a vote by a
California resident.
4. If presidents were elected
by direct popular vote, they would wage a campaign and advertise all across
the nation, rather than (as they do in the Electoral College system)
concentrating almost all of their time and effort in a handful of
battleground states. The Electoral College system encourages candidates
to pander to the interests of voters in a few closely contested states.
5. The Electoral College
system, especially in a close election, is subject to the mischief that might
be caused by disloyal, or even bribed, electors.
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To
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about the
electoral college.
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