The Electoral College was first created in 1804, and has lost significance and necessity since then. In short terms, the system is a group of people, made of people from the House of Representatives and the Senate, who vote on the next president. Oftentimes, the decision they make is based on the decision their state makes. When originally created, it was to ensure someone with less education but more popularity amongst the public would not win. Essentially, it would put a check on the power of the people, many of whom had no access to the resources needed to correctly pick a political candidate.

An old structure that places power in the hands of politicians, the Electoral College provides an illusion of democracy. The popular vote, which represents the people, does not always win, and the electors do not even need to vote with the populace. People that live in states like Wisconsin have more power than people who live in California. How can we preach equal rights and opportunity, but not allow everyone to have the same influence? In order to create the fair country that we want to be, the system needs to either be abolished or go through heavy change.

The NDB Catalyst talked to History Department Chair Jonathan Tomczak and NHS members Sophia Dinelli and Lauren Fitzgerald about their opinions on this controversial system.

The Catalyst: Do you think the electoral college should be continued or eliminated? Why?

Jonathan Tomczack: I think the current system of the electoral college definitely needs to be changed. The question is, what do you change, do you go to a straight up popular vote? We emphasize that every vote matters. We want every vote to be heard and if a system isn’t doing that, if it treats different votes unequally, because of the electoral college proportions, that’s another thing. Another thing we could do is reevaluate how many electors each state has. If we were to readjust that, if we were to add more people into Congress, maybe the balance between the states would be better, so the electoral vote wouldn’t be so reliant on a couple different states.

Sophia Dinelli: “If we were to keep the current system, I think that we would definitely need to make some amendments to the Constitution. [Whether] it’s forcing the electorate to vote the way the state goes, because I think if they don’t vote the way that your state goes, that basically tells me that your vote doesn’t count.

Lauren Fitzgerald: “Personally, if I could just take it away I absolutely would. I think that a true democracy is much better…It’s so important that every person gets a vote. I think that everyone who’s eligible to vote, their vote should be counted. It should be a popular vote and it should all be equal.

When asked, most people either wanted to rework the system, or get rid of it completely. The United States aims to place power in its citizens, and the Electoral College does anything but.