The Archaic Electoral College for Presidential Elections Research Paper

The Archaic Electoral College for Presidential Elections - Research Paper Example Firstly, it is important to describe how the Electoral College method currently works. Every four years, in this indirect election method, U.S. citizens vote for Electors in their respective states who, in turn, vote for a Presidential candidate. With some exceptions, when a party receives a majority in a particular state, Electors from that party are deemed to have won the state. There are a total of 538 electors in the Electoral College system. When a party wins enough states to reach a count of at least 270 electors, the Presidential nominee from that party wins the election. So, a President wins the election by an aggregate of statewide electors rather than the total number of nationwide votes. The number of Electors in each state is equal to the total number of Senators and U.S. Representatives in it (â€Å"How the Electoral College Functions† 10). Since the number of U.S. Representatives is based on population, more populous states have more electors. The electors only t ake part in this one-time vote and are not responsible for any future legislative work. They are appointees of participating political parties and typically always vote in favour of their party’s respective candidate. Historically, on four occasions the winning president did not receive the popular vote with the latest being the 2000 elections (â€Å"How the Electoral College Functions† 17) when Al Gore lost to George W. Bush by a slim margin of Electoral College votes despite receiving a higher nationwide popular vote. Bush won 271 Electoral College votes, with a margin of only 1 vote above the minimum required.