Dear Mrs. Senator,

The Electoral College is unfair, outdated, and a poorly representative system for our nation. Previous elections and facts show that the Electoral College may have worked in the past, but does not work in accuratley representing the millions of voters in our country any longer.

In the 2000 presidential campaign, the unfairness of the Electoral College was blatantly obvious. "Seventeen states didn't see the candidates at all, and voters in twenty five of the largest media markets didn't get to see a single campaig ad," (Plumer). The vote was left almost entirely in the hands of a few "swing voters" in Ohio, which is not an accurate representation of the opinions of the American population. During this campaign in 2000, Al Gore received more individual votes than George W. Bush nationwide, however, Bush received 271 electoral votes to Gore's 266,  so Bush was elected president (Plumer). It is obvious that the votes of the Electoral College do not accurately reflect the opinions of the people, and gives the citizens of our country poor representation in our government.

The arguments in favor of the Electoral College are weak at best. In the article "In Defense of the Electoral College: Five reasons to keep our despised method of choosing the President" by Richard A. Posner, the opening paragraph is practically an argument against the Electoral College. In the article, Posner states, "The Electoral College is widely regarded as an anachronism, a non-democratic method of selecting a president... [t]he advocates of the position are correct in arguing that the Electoral College method is not democratic... it is the electors that choose the president, not the people." In this opening statement for an article about how great the Electoral College is, Posner proves quite the opposite. The people of our country deserve proper representation; each of their individual votes should be important and their opinions on who leads this country should be heard.

As stated in this counterclaim, it is not the people who choose the president- it is the electors in the unjust Electoral College system.

According to a Gallup poll taken in 2000, over 60% of voters would prefer a direct election to the kind we have now (Plumer). It is clear the majority of the U.S.A. would prefer a different way of electing a president, whether that be a direct election, or another system that properly represents the nation's opinions. The list of possibilities of things going wrong in the Electortal College is large. Suppose there was a tie, which is entirely possible, since there is an even number, 538, of Electoral votes (Posner). If this happened, the election of the president would be put in the hands of the House of Representatives. In this system, each state casts only one vote, so the representative from Wyoming who is casting a vote for 500,000 voters would have as much say as the representative from California, whose single vote represents the opinion of

35 million voters

. If this isn't an unethical process, I don't know what is.

Mrs. Senator, as a citizen of the United States, and Democrat in the mainly Republican state of Florida, I want my voice to be heard.

With the current Electoral Collge system, I am worried that it won't be. I shouldn't have to worry about "faithless" electors refusing to vote for my party's candidate, or the electors in my state not casting a vote that represents my opinions. In the free country of America, I want my vote to count and our government to make decisions based on what

I

say, not some electors from my state. With this current Electoral College system, I cannot have my representation or freedom bestowed upon me by the Constitution, and that needs to change. Thank you for reading, and I hope you can make a difference.

Sincerely,

PROPER_NAME