What the Electoral College is and How it Works

1. What are the two major processes used to select delegates to national conventions?

a. Presidential Primaries- a presidential primary is an election in which parties voters choose some or all of a state party organizations delegates to their parties national convention or express a preference among various contenders for their presidential nomination. This is a voting system that allows party members to vote for a certain candidate where the percentage that is won by the candidates will be sent to the national convention to represent that candidate.
b. Caucus Convention- This process is the oldest process that has a local caucus meeting. At this caucus the party members split up into different group representing the candidate that they support. Then party members try to persuade each other to come over to their candidate's side and support them. Then a count is done of the amount of party members support each candidate. Depending on the percentage of party members each candidate receives that is how many delegates are sent up to the state convention. Then from that convention delegates are chosen to go to the national convention.

2. How does proportional representation differ from the winner take all system?

Winner take all is a contest where the candidate who won the preference vote automatically won the support of all delegates chosen at the primary. Recently this type of voting has disappeared and is now not in use anymore.
Proportional representation is any candidate who wins at least fifteen percent of the votes cast. Of the votes that are cast in a primary, the number of that states Democratic convention delegates that correspond to his or her share of that primary vote. For instance if a state has one hundred delegates and a candidate wins sixty percent of the primary vote, that candidate gets sixty candidates to go to the

3. Why are hard fought presidential primaries fairly common in the party out of power and rare for the Presidents party?

When the party who is in power is doing all of the work the other party tries to show every weakness in that party so that for the next election that party will get more votes. The primary for the presidential candidate that is not in power is fought harder because the people by that point want change in the government. They want fresh faces with new ideas that will help move our society forward.

4. Expressing Problems Clearly- As you read some critics of the current primary system favor a series of regional primaries held at two or three week intervals. What might be the advantages and disadvantages of such a system?

By spreading out the primaries to regional areas at two or three week periods you are allowing the candidates more time to get their ideas and thoughts out to as many people in those areas that they can before they vote. The down side to this is that it can make some regions less important then others when it comes to the voting process. By spreading out the times in which certain regions vote you are giving the first states more power over voting because they can set the pace or tone of the primaries. Also if a certain candidate gets enough votes by the other regions then there is no reason for the voter regions to vote.

1. How does the way the Electoral College functions today differ from the Framers intentions?

As the people vote in the presidential election they do not cast a vote directly for one of the contenders for the presidency. Instead they vote to elect presidential electors. The constitution provides for the election of the President by the Electoral College, in hitch each State has as many electors as it has members of congress. The framers expected the electors to use their own judgment in selecting a President. But unlike what the framers had in mind the electors are expected to vote automatically for their party's candidates for President and Vice President.

2. What are the three main weaknesses of the Electoral College system?

a. There is always the chance that the popular vote will not win the presidency. This problem is due to two main factors the bigger of the two is the winner takes all feature of the Electoral College system. That is the winning candidate customarily receives all of the states electoral votes. The other majo0r problem is the way the electoral votes are distributed among the states. Since each state is allotted two slots in the electoral process and not by the states population that means that the smaller states with less of a population have just as much power as big states with a huge population.
b. Nothing in the constitution nor in any federal statue requires the electors to vote for the candidate favored by the popular vote in their States. The electors are expected to vote for the candidate who carries their state and as loyal members of their parties but this is not always the case. Only on nine occasions have electors cast their vote for another candidate or no at all.
c. In any presidential election it is possible that the contest will be decided in the House. This has only happened twice in history. Individual members are not voting the voting that is being cast but instead by the states. A state like Nevada or Alaska would have the same amount of power as a state like New York or California. Another problem is that if the states two representatives had differing opinions on which it should be there vote is not counted.

3. Explain the district plan, the proportional plan, the direct popular election plan, and the national bonus plan for reforming the Electoral College.

a. The district plan- this is the plan in which the electors are chosen in each state in the same way as members of Congress. This means that two electors are chosen from each state by a statewide popular vote. This plan would do away with the winner take all problems in the present system.
b. The proportional plan- under this plan each presidential candidate would receive the same share of a States electoral vote as he or she received in the State popular vote. This means that if a candidate won forty percent of the votes cast in a State with twenty electoral votes he or she would get eight of that states electoral votes.
c. Direct popular election- with this type of system they would do away with the Electoral College system altogether. In this proposal each vote would count equally in the national result. The winner would always be the majority or plurality choice.
d. National reforming bonus- the national bonus plan would keep much of the Electoral College system intact especially its winner takes all feature. It would weight that feature in favor of the winner of the popular vote.

5. Identifying Alternatives- Suppose you have been asked to draft a plan for reforming the Electoral College. Choose one of the methods discussed in this section, or write one of your own. Explain how your plan will work and why it is superior to other proposed plans.

I agree with the direct popular election vote and those we need to totally get rid of the Electoral College. By making each vote equal to a vote in the national system you are leaving no room for error or for an individual to change positions. Since you are putting your vote in the hand of one electoral they should not be able to change at the last second if they want to. By getting rid of this middleman you are creating less confusion and less chance for someone to do something that you do not what them to do.