One of the main causes of debate in the U.S. is the issue of the integrity of the presidential election. Not all citizens of America know that during the voting, they actually choose not the president but representatives of the states. It is they who will then select the next president of the country. For several reasons, many researchers and ordinary persons find this method unfair. Thus, this way cannot be considered democratic since the people of America do not elect their leader themselves; instead, their opinion is taken into account only indirectly. Secondly, this is also unfair in relation to the candidates because it happened in the history of elections that the candidate lost the election despite winning the most popular votes – this phenomenon can be called ‘an inversion.’ Consequently, even though the major part of the nation wanted a particular person to become their president, their desire was not satisfied.
Further, I believe that the Electoral College tends to give a greater advantage to a particular political party, precisely the Republicans, and my opinion is supported by research. According to Millhiser (2019), when the Electoral College produces an ‘inversion,’ Democrats are less likely to benefit from it than Republicans. I may suggest that the reason is that more weight is given by the system to states with smaller populations and a majority of Republicans.
Overall, since I believe that the Electoral College method is not quite fair and democratic, I would be in favor of changing this system. It seems to me that the national popular vote is a more transparent and justified way to choose U.S. presidents. When participating in the voting process, I would like to be sure that I actually vote for the candidate but not the state’s representatives. What is more, all states will have similar power in presidential elections.
Reference
Millhiser, I. (2019). The astounding advantage the Electoral College gives to Republicans, in one chart. Vox.