Supporting Minorities

It was important to the founders of our country to make a system that was a democracy as well as protect minority rights in the process. There has always been a discussion on which way would be best to elect presidents. The amount of electoral votes can be calculated by taking each state’s representative and add two. Each state has a minimum of three electoral votes. Steve Farrell states in “Electoral College: Protecting Minority Rights,” “The Founders considered at least 10 different plans to elect the president…, only one of which was by the direct election of the people” (Farrell 2). It is interesting that the founders had ten procedures in order to elect presidents, yet only one included the direct election of the president by the people. Although it probably does not come as a surprise, this plan has been the way we have successfully elected presidents for almost 250 years. Using this formula, known as the Electoral College has been shown to help protect minority groups by making their votes proportionally more important.

           The Electoral College aides in the process of achieving racial justice. As James R Whitson points out in “Why the Electoral College is better for America than direct elections,” “About 13% of the country is black. Less than 2% of the country are farmers” (Whitson 1). He also states that “African Americans make up 25% or more of the population in several states” (Whitson 1). This is significant because if the popular vote was used rather than Electoral College the African American minority along with other minorities, would have their voting power diminished. As opposed to in the Electoral College where minority groups have more of a voice in the election. Americans have an idea of how diverse our country is, but the statistics give a stronger understanding. Ronald D. Rotunda reports in “How the Electoral College Works – And Why It Works Well” that “Because these minorities tend to live in large cities of the bigger states, their votes are important in the tilting all the electoral votes of their state, thus encouraging candidates of both parties to appeal for their votes”(Rotunda 1). If the Electoral College was not an option of electing president, these minority votes would likely get lost in the shuffle of the election.

As Election time comes closer the presidential candidates travel through the states. Whitson states that “The Electoral College discourages candidates from pandering to specific regions of the country” (Whitson 1). The candidates know that in order to win the election they need 270 total electoral votes. An example of this is when Grover Cleveland lost the election in 1888 due to pandering. While Cleveland focused on the south region, Benjamin Harrison had support from the rest of the country. As Whitson points out “The Electoral College rewards candidates who draw votes from around the country rather than in a limited area” (Whitson 1). This is shown in the results of the 1888 election. Cleveland won the popular vote by 90,000 yet Harrison beat Cleveland in the electoral vote 233-168.

http://dailycaller.com/2012/11/06/presidential-nail-biters-top-10-closest-presidential-elections-in-history-slideshow/harrison-cleveland/

Works Cited:

1. Farrell, Steve. "Electoral College: Protecting Minority Rights." The Perfect Law of Liberty. N.p., 14 Nov. 2000. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. Path: https://sites.google.com/site/heavenlybanner/electoral-college/electoral-college-protecting-minority-rights   

2.  Rotunda, Ronald D. "How the Electoral College Works -- And Why It Works Well." Cato Institute. N.p., 13 Nov. 2000. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/how-electoral-college-works-why-it-works-well

3. Whitson, James R. "Why the Electoral College is better for America than direct elections." President Elect: The Unofficial Homepage of the Electoral College. N.p., 8 Nov. 2008. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. http://presidentelect.org/art_whyec.html  

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