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Section 1

The Electoral College is the group of representatives that elect the president. Itwas created by our Founding Fathers in 1787. The Electoral College was created withmany arguments. The Electoral College was around from the first elections here in theUnited States. It was put in the constitution during the founding of our country. It is madeup of the Senate that was created with the New Jersey plan. It is also created of theHouse of Representatives which was created with the Virginia plan. These plans were put together to form the Electoral College.The votes are a very important part of the Electoral College. When you receive atleast 51% of the popular vote in a state you receive all of the Electoral Votes except in Nebraska and Maine. These two states split the electoral votes along the percentages of the popular vote. You need 271 Electoral votes to win the presidency. There are a totalof 544 electoral votes counting Washington D.C. Senators make up 100 votes of the 541electoral votes. The remaining 441votes are from house representatives. Washington D.Cdoes not have senators or house representatives but elect their electoral collegerepresentatives during the popular voteThe problems are complex. There are two different kinds of problems with theElectoral College, state problems and national problems. Some states problems are stateswith small populations being forgotten between states with large populations. Alaska is alarge state with a small population and only gets 3 electoral votes. California is a bigstate with a large population and gets 53 electoral votes. Another problem is withWashington D.C. having votes when it is not a state. Washington D.C.'s electoral votesshould be included in the electoral votes of Maryland or Virginia. The last local problem

with the Electoral College is, that not all states have the equal number of votes. Somenational problems are that the president can win presidency with less than 50% of the popular vote. This scenario happened in 2000 between Gore and W. Bush and 1888 between Cleveland and Harrison. Last but not least the citizens want to directly vote for the President of the United States.

Possible solutions

The solutions to these problems are complex and many. For example, we coulduse the popular vote. We could keep it as it is. We could change the Electoral College.Here are some solutions to the problems with the Electoral College at hand.Using just the popular vote would help with how the electoral college is unfair,with it possible to win with less than 50% of votes. In past elections electoral votesresulted in a president who lost the popular vote, like in 2000 (Bush vs. Gore) and 1888,(Cleveland vs. Harrison). It is also unfair with winner take all method, meaning if Bobgets 51% of the vote in Colorado (which has 9 Electoral Votes) and Burke gets 49% of the votes, Bob will get all 9 votes.We could also keep the Electoral College as it is. In most elections it works well.The Electoral College is a unique system of voting. It also creates a great method for when a tie occurs. When a tie occurs for president, the House of Representatives castsone vote from each state. Finally, changing the Electoral College would require aconstitutional amendment, which is really difficult.By changing the Electoral College we could fix some problems and keep theuniqueness. We could change the Electoral College so that only senators vote, making all

states equal. We could keep the Electoral College for reasons such as ties. It has a goodmethod for ties. It goes like this. Bob and Burke each got 50% of the vote then onemember of the House of Representatives from each state votes for either Bob or Burke.The senate in case of a tie chooses the Vice President. If the vote by the senate for thevice president is a tie there is provision in the constitution for this scenario.

Section3

The Electoral College affects many levels. The stakeholders for this subjectwould be the president, the states, the congress, and the citizens. Doing away with,leaving the same, or changing the Electoral College would affect all.The President may or may not like the Electoral College, depending on which president you asked. Suppose you asked President Obama, he might say no he dose notlike it because how you can win the popular vote and lose the electoral vote. If you askedGeorge Bush he would most likely say he likes the Electoral College because without ithe would never have won the presidency.The states may or may not like the Electoral College, depending on which stateyou ask. If you are a state with lots of people you like the Electoral College just the wayit is. If you ask Alaska or Wyoming they would most likely want to change the electoralcollege to just the senators vote.The congress may or may not like the Electoral College. If you are from Nebraska or Maine you most likely appreciate the ability to split their votes. If you're acongressman from Colorado you might not like it because if your guy loses the popular vote he gets no electoral votes even if it is close. If there is a tie and you are acongressman running for president you like it because you vote for yourself.