Dear Florida Senator,

The Electoral College has been in the United States for a very long time. It has worked for the most part and we have been happy with it for the most part, but "for the most part," doesn't cut it. The system has to be one that works all the time without fail. Said system has to make sense. That is why electing by the popular vote should be our's.

Except for two states, the electoral votes are, "Winner take all." This means that if the  popular vote is obtained in a state by just a smidge, the the entire state's votes go to that candidtate. This makes absolutely no sense at all. The "big states" like California, Texas, and Florida have about thirty to fifty five electoral votes unlike most other states which have three to ten electoral votes. If the "big states" were to be won by a little by one  candidate, then he or she would have over one hundred votes toward his or her candidacy but only about sixty percent of the popularity for those states. This happened to Al Gore in 2000 against George W. Bush.

Another problem with the Electoral College is that the creators did not make it so that a tie is impossible. Richard A. Posner explains in his article from

Slate Magazine that although the total number of electoral college votes is even, it is still very unlikely. Now which is more likely, something to happen out of 580 things or something to happen out of many million?

When voting for the president, the voter feels like he or she has the power to choose our nation's leader. When the voter realizes they are not voting for the president, they are, in fact, electing chosen people to vote for them, it does not really have the same effect.  This is explained in Bradford Plumer's "The Indefensible Electoral College." Electing by the popular vote would make it seem more personal and voting would have more meaning.

Richard A. Posner also said that the Electoral College made candidates go to more than one region of the United States to gain support. In fact, they just go to swing states and states they know they will win. Electing by the poplular vote would make candidates go to every state to gain support.

The Electoral College may or may not have worked before, but it just doesn't now. It will take a while to implement the process of electing by popular vote, but when we do, it will definitely be worth it.

Sincerely, PROPER_NAME   