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The Electoral College
For over 200 years, the Electoral College has determined the leader of the free world; also know as The President of The United States of America.
There are a total of 538 electors in the United States. Depending on population, states are apportioned a certain number of electors. Colorado, for example, is apportioned 9 electoral votes (2 for the number of United States Senators and 7 for the number of Congress People). Click here to see the distribution of electoral votes in all states.
Most states in the country, with the exception of Maine and Nebraska, have a “take all” system, meaning if a candidate receives the absolute majority they take all the electoral votes in that state. If you would like to learn more about how the Electoral College works, please click here.
Currently, there is a group in Colorado, Make Your Vote Count, working to reform the way electoral votes are distributed in the state. Make Your Vote Count is campaigning for Amendment 36 and if it passes electoral votes will be apportioned according to the popular vote. This will go into effect for this election. If Amendment 36 passes, Colorado will be the first state that apportions electoral votes representative to the popular vote.
Brief history…
When the Electoral College was established, over 200 years ago, there were only 13 colonies and a total population of about 4,000,000 (a little less than the current population of Colorado). The American Revolution gave freedom to a group of people that found English rule repressive. Therefore, Americans were disdainful of political parties and a centralized government.
So, the question our forefathers were faced with was “how to choose the President of the United States” considering these factors. The options that were discussed are as follows, 1) Congress chooses, 2) State Legislatures choose or 3) the popular vote determines. All three options were ruled out. If Congress were to choose it could have upset the balance of power and if State Legislatures chose Presidents may be beholden to the states. And the popular vote was ruled out because the thought was that the electorate would vote for the candidate from their state, giving larger states an advantage (considering the size of the country at the time).
At the Constitutional Convention it was decided to choose the President through a college of electors. The founders were well versed in history and modeled the Electoral College after the Roman Empire’s Centurial Assembly. The Centurial Assembly worked like this- only men, based on economic status, were broken into groups of 100 and each group had the equivalent of one elector.
The College of Electors was likened to the Centurial Assembly of the Roman Republic where adult male citizens of Rome were divided into groups of 100 who cast one vote in favor or against proposals of the Roman Republic. In the Electoral College system the states assume the role of a centurial group and the number of votes that they are entitled to depend on the size of the state’s Congressional delegation. Originally, the purpose of the College of Electors was to have the most knowledgeable and informed individuals from each state of the Union cast their votes for the president assuming that they voted solely on the basis of merit. www.votescount.com/books/elecoll.htm
Back to Amendment 36: Both the proponents and opponents of Amendment 36 have compelling arguments…
Proponents argue that the Electoral College suppresses voter turnout. Since the current system is “winner takes all” a candidate simply needs the absolute majority for all the electoral votes. Proponents would also argue that the Electoral College prevents third party candidates from participating in the process. In addition, they would argue that the constitution was intended to be a dynamic, not static, document. The constitution has changed a considerable amount since its inception, for example, women suffrage and human rights issues.
The opponents will argue that the Electoral College has been an effective means of electing presidents for over 200 years. It maintains the cohesiveness of the country and limits participation to two parties. And if the Electoral College were reformed to represent the popular vote, Presidential candidates will be less likely to visit the state. In addition, opponents are concerned that if other states follow Colorado's lead, it will be harder to get Democrats elected. The concern is that larger states, such as California and New York, with several electoral votes that traditionally go Democratic will now be split, diluting Democratic strongholds.
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