Electoral System Flaws

Electoral System Flaws
Election Unit Essay When it comes to representing our diversity our election system falls short, it overlooks and disregards our voices. The election
system has many flaws it does not take everybody's voice into consideration it omits many voices which is not acceptable because we are supposed to
be a nation with freedom and equality. The winner takes all system in the Electoral College does not live up to our nation's set of ideals. Other flaws that
our election system has is the photo ID laws which are another limitation to our voices and lobbying which has a great impact in our election system.
When it comes to listening to the people's voices the Electoral College comes short. The Electoral College damages our voices. The Electoral
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Electoral College: The American Voting System
The Electoral College is a very important process to the American voting system however deciding who gets to be a part of the Electoral College is a
two–step process. First, the political parties in each state choose slates of potential Electors sometime before the general election. Second, on Election
Day, the voters in each state select their state's Electors by casting their ballots for President.
Who makes The Electoral College? The American voting system is very confusing. Many Americans think that their vote goes directly towards
whatever election they are voting towards however it does not. Once a person votes their vote goes toward the Electoral College. The Electoral College
is a process that the founding fathers put in place to

Advantages Of The Electoral System
Is the Electoral System in the UK satisfactory?
An Electoral System which can also be referred to as Voting systems, involve the processes by which we elect candidates. This ascertains the norms on
how parties and representatives are chosen. In the United Kingdom, there are different systems for the voting of The House of Commons, devolved
assemblies and mayors. The Commons and the House of Lords also use different kind of voting methods for internal elections. There are various types
of systems that are utilised to elect mayors and representatives to the House of Commons, Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales, Northern
Ireland Assembly, European Parliament and UK local authorities.
One of the most contested systems, but also a prevalent one in many countries like India and Canada, is the First Past The Post System. It is seen as
one of the easiest systems, and is often also referred to as the winner–takes–all system. The winner of the election will be the candidate who garners
more votes than the others, simply put. The voter is given names of the different candidates and simply has to chose one of them. In England and
Wales, this system is used for local elections as well as to choose Ministers to the House of Commons. In this system, particular regions are divided
into numerous constituencies and voters are supposed to mark ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
It is almost a replica of the Alternative Vote, with the only distinction that only a first and second preference choice is offered to the people voting.
After tabulation, if one candidate has not gotten more than half the votes, the top two contenders with the highest votes are kept. The second
preferences on the papers of the eliminated candidates are counted and any cast for the two remaining candidates are transferred. The candidate which
at the end of this process has the highest number of votes is then

The Electoral College System Is Outdated And Unfair
Every year on the fourth of November an election is taken place to select the next president of the United States. Just recently, in the 2016 election,
Hilary Clinton won the popular vote and Donald Trump won the electoral vote, in which he was elected president. This made many Americans question
if the electoral college system is outdated and unfair and if the direct popular vote is a more effective way of electing the president. This has happened
twice where the candidate who has the popular vote did not win the presidency. The problem that has arisen is that the rules of the presidential election
need to be replaced so that it will reflect the true opinion of the U.S. citizens. According to Edwards III, under the constitution, the ... Show more
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Every state has two senators and the number of representatives that is proportional to its population (Schumaker 12). Congress decides who they want
to dictate how many electors each state has based it off of the state 's population (Edwards 14). The Constitution requires that winning candidate must
have 270 of the Electoral College votes. For instance, during the 2004 election, Bush had collected 271 electoral votes if he had two fewer votes and
Gore two more than both of the candidates would have had fifty percent of the Electoral College votes (Schumaker 12).
What is a popular vote? A popular vote is a way for a candidate to get a majority of votes for an election. The citizens of the U.S. vote on a presidential
candidate.
How was the Electoral College Founded? The Electoral College was constructed to be a compromise between the different ways of selecting the
president. Originally the delegates of the Constitutional Convention wanted Congress to select eh president, while others preferred the direct popular
election (Schumaker 13). While the Constitutional Convention proceeded, one of the founders established a "Committee of the Eleven" to create a
compromise for selecting the president (Schumaker 13). The reason for the idea of the Electoral College many opposed to the direct popular vote
because people feared that the less popular vote would feel inferior to other states (Schumaker 13). This method was widely accepted there was

A Fair And Open Electoral System
For decades, Canadians have been defending their right to have a fair and open electoral system. Since its creation in 1867, Canada has been proud
to call itself a true democratic country, but today there would be many people who disagree with this statement. The Canadian electoral system, which
uses First Past The Post (FPTP), has come under scrutiny for not being as fair as it claims to be. Over the past couple of decades, many countries have
switched their system to Proportional Representation (PR) or some form of it. Based on successful results in other nations, Canada's current FPTP
system should change to Mixed Member Proportional (MMP), which is a form of Proportional Representation, as it will allow for more fair elections.
The intent of this paper is to outline how an electoral reform from First Past the Post to Proportional Representation or Mixed–Member Proportional,
will lead to more confidence in the government, more accurate seat–vote percentage, and better overall representation of the population.
The first past the post system runs on the idea that whichever party has the most votes wins. In Canada, the government has split geographical regions
into constituencies which are called ridings.Each riding has a representative from each party that has chosen to have an individual represent them.
When the election date comes, voters will go to the polling station and cast their vote for whichever individual they want to represent them. Whichever
representative that

A New Voting System: The Electoral College
In 1787 the Framers established a new voting system known as the Electoral College. (Brown) It is a group of electors chosen by the voters in every
state to select the President and Vice President of the United States. The reason for its creation was because the founding father were terrified of direct
election to the Presidency. They also had the interests of the small states and rural areas in mind and wanted to make sure they were protected. This is
how the Electoral College works in five steps:
(1)Each political party chooses a slate of electors before to the general election in November. These electors promise to vote for a specific
candidate. (2) In November of a presidential election year, each state holds a general election in which all qualified citizens may vote. The
outcomes from the November election decide which political party's electors are chosen to vote in the Electoral College in December. All of the
electors for the candidate that wins the popular vote are selected to cast their vote for President. This is call the "winner takes all" system. (3) In
December, the electors gather in their state capitols to cast their votes for President and Vice President 41 days after the election. States may or may
not require their electors to vote with the popular majority. Electors who vote contrary to their promised nominee are called ... Show more content on
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(Soni) However, this can be seen to be a big problem as well. It does not mirror how the people voted and the winner takes all method does not
display what each districts belief truly is. (Brown) It will also give some states too much control over the election and will not actually be a
democracy because it is not always the same results as popular vote.

The Electoral College Is A Unique System That Elects The...
Its November 8, and you are finally old enough to vote. You head to the nearest voting station and check the name of the person you think is most fit
to be President of the United States. Heart filled with excitement, you put on your "I voted" sticker and head home to watch the election unravel.
Your states votes were finally counted, and the presidential candidate you voted for lost by 1%. Your heart sinks as you realize all electoral votes for
your state will go to the opposing candidate, and 48% of your population's votes will be silenced. The Electoral College should no longer be used to
elect the President of the United States, because it is an out dated method that makes the votes of the people diluted and unequally distributed across the
country.
To begin, the electoral college is a unique system that elects the president and vice president. When Americans vote for a President and Vice President,
they are actually voting for presidential electors, in whole is the electoral college. It is these electors, who elect the chief executive. The Constitution
assigns each state a number of electors based on population. The number of electors per state ranges from 3 to 54, for a total of 538. Furthermore, if a
candidate gets the most votes in a state, he will, usually, be given all electoral votes from that state. In order to win the presidency, a candidate must get
at least 270 of the electoral votes. Although winning the electoral means winning the presidency, the electoral

Pros And Cons Of The Electoral College System
The Electoral College System Every four years, on the Tuesday of the first Monday of November, millions of U.S. citizens go out and vote for the
next president. These votes are counted and recorded, but whoever wins by popular vote, does not necessarily mean that whoever wins, will
automatically win presidency. The electoral college not only takes part, but it ultimately decides who the next president will be. The electoral college
system is a political institution that has been in place for more than 200 years. This system was created during the Constitutional Convention to help
create a fair way to elect the president without giving too much power to the government or individuals. Today, through pastelections we can analyze
how it works, its advantages, and its disadvantages.
When elections are held in November, each state holds an election for president, in which all eligible citizens may vote. Citizens vote for a ticket of
candidates that includes a candidate for a president and one for vice president. The outcome of the vote determines a slate of electors who will make
the actual choice for president and vice president in December. Each candidate running for President in each state, has his or her own group of electors.
Political parties nominate electors at their state conventions. These electors are usually state–elected officials, party leaders of people with a strong
affiliation with the residential candidates. Neither the constitution or federal election laws

The Electoral System
Electoral systems have shown to be one of the most stable democratic institutions. The small changing of rules and regulations with respect to the
administration of elections is common practice and encouraged through various amendments (Norris, 1997: 297). Maurice Duverger in 1946 stated the
effects of the electoral system and after analysis formulated three sociological laws. He concluded that a majority vote with a one–ballot formula leads
to a two–party system, proportional representation tends to multipartism and a majority vote with a two–ballot formula contributes towards a multiparty
system and promotes the forming of coalitions (Duverger, 1972: 23). Through the consequences of "under–representation" and "polarisation" a
majority vote with a one–ballot formula badly affects third parties (and any other parties thereafter). Subsequently, this leads to a two–party system. I
will be arguing for Duverger's law with reference to the 1964 British Liberal party. I will also be critiquing Duverger's second and third laws,
proportional representation and a majority vote with a two–ballot formula both tending to multipartism. The argument stems from the notion that
proportional representation ensures no matter how ineffective the minority is, the party is assured representation within the legislature and
multipartism occurs (Norris, 1997: 303; Duverger, 1972: 24). This concept will be explained with reference to the Belgian Liberal Party in the early
1900s. Finally, I

Electoral System For The Country
are divided into subset of electoral system for the country. Figure 2, is a representation of various types of electoral system family in the top part
while the bottom shows the electoral system. For example, United States has a majority/plurality than is a plurality which is also called
"First–pass–the–post" while Germany has a proportional representation than is a mixed member system. These are just some of the electoral system
examples. This could be interesting to see what is going on with elections if electoral system plays a factor in the outcome of voter turnout.
Figure 2 shows a diagram of the different electoral families and their subset of the electoral families.
Gallagher and Mitchell (2005) explain some countries electoral system itself can be a major political issue. Gallagher and Mitchell wrote, "They
(electoral system) are a crucial link in the chain connecting the preferences of citizens to the policy choices made by the government." (Gallagher and
Mitchell: 2005). They are explaining electoral system plays a certain role in the government therefore could have an input on voter turnout. This makes
their research an interesting topic to focus on to study further to see if there is a relationship between turnout and electoral system. Depending on the
electoral system, may make potential voters to believe their vote is not as important as other's voter and will restrain them from going to the poll booth
(Jackman, 1987). Various electoral system could have lower

The State 's Electoral System
POLI 201: Electoral Reform in Canada
Kelsey Dechant
UCID 30012085
November 10, 2015
TA: Camilo Torres, T03
The format of a state's electoral system plays a foundational role in the quality of its democracy. Illiberal democracies, for example, may limit potential
opponents of the ruling party; these kinds of states are generally said to be less democratic than those which encourage political freedom. Because a
nation's electoral structure influences the nature of its democracy, one must take a critical view on current systems and seek to better them where
possible. Though not an extreme example, the electoral system in Canada can be said to hinder democracy, albeit indirectly, leading to apathy and
discontent amongst the electorate. In a "disproportionate" system such as Canada's, citizens' voices are not as easily or accurately represented. For this
reason, it is of utmost importance to consider electoral reform so that Canada's system is more proportionate and conducive to political engagement.
Canada's current electoral arrangement is known as a single member plurality or "first–past–the–post" system. In this system, the basis of seat
distribution is who has the most votes during an election. For example, a candidate who wins 34 percent of the popular vote will go on to represent a
riding, even if the rest of the votes go to two or more different parties. Plurality systems increase government stability and effectiveness using a
"manufactured majority"

Opponents Of The Electoral College System
Opponents of the Electoral College system also point to the risk of so–called "faithless" Electors. A "faithless Elector" is one who is pledged to vote
for his party 's candidate for president but nevertheless votes for another candidate. There have been 7 such Electors in this century and as recently as
1988 when a Democrat Elector in the State of West Virginia cast his votes for Lloyd Bensen for president and Michael Dukakis for vice president
instead of the other way around. Faithless Electors have never changed the outcome of an election, though, simply because most often their purpose is
to make a statement rather than make a difference. That is to say, when the electoral vote outcome is so obviously going to be for one candidate or
the other, an occasional Elector casts a vote for some personal favorite knowing full well that it will not make a difference in the result. Still, if the
prospect of a faithless Elector is so fearsome as to warrant a Constitutional amendment, then it is possible to solve the problem without abolishing the
Electoral College merely by eliminating the individual Electors in favor of a purely mathematical process (since the individual Electors are no longer
essential to its operation).
Harm 2: direct popular vote does not encourage the cohesiveness of the country by not requiring a distribution of popular support to be elected president
the Electoral College system contributes to the cohesiveness of the country by requiring a

Electoral System In Canada
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative called for an early election in 2015 and believed they would win, however, the results were not what
they have expected. Their defeat was partly due the Canadian parliamentary system with single member districts and the Canadian electoral system.
Unlike the United States' presidential system that elects a president, a prime minister is considered as the head of the Canadian government. If Canada
uses the American presidential system, and elects a president there would probably be major changes in Canada's electoral history.
Though, in the 2015 election, even if Canada has a system similar to the United States, Trudeau would still win this election. Canada's parliamentary
system doesn't allow Canadians ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Unlike Canada, where people vote for candidate to represent their riding, the people under a presidential system vote for a candidate that runs to
become the president, and the candidate with the most popular vote becomes the president. If Canada uses a presidential system, the results of the
2015 election would not be a lot different than the results when Canada has a parliamentary system. As Pierre Trudeau received a lot more popular
votes than Stephen Harper, so Trudeau would be elected as the president of Canada instead of Harper. Also, a presidential government tends to be
more stable than a parliamentary government because there won't be disputes between parties since there is only one party in the government.
According to the United States presidential system, there is a rule that a president can't be elected to the office more than two terms, so if this rule
applies to Canada, Stephen Harper wouldn't be allowed to be elected

The Failure Of The Electoral College System
Electoral College is a system of voting that requires for certain number to be attached to states as a way determine the voting output of a that state.
The number varies from state to state and each assigned electoral college votes are claimed based on the candidate who has the highest number of
votes. There are few states in the US that divide their college vote base on the percentage obtain by each participating candidate.
In 1787, the constitution met and adapted several systems of electing public official into office; the system includes but not limited to president,
lawmakers, governors, judges etc. At that convention, delegates voted to approved the Electoral College System which primary goals was to provide
distribute some governance and leverage to states that have higher population ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Although this could feel as though your vote is about as decisive as those of an elementary school election, the Electoral College process was actually
put in place to ensure a nationwide system of fairness. When you cast your vote for president, you also vote for an often–unnamed elector who will
cast a ballot in a separate election that ultimately choose the

Electoral College System Essay examples
Analyze criticism of the "Electoral College" system and the alleged advantages and disadvantages of various reform proposals.
The Electoral College is a system in which the individual voter does not actually vote directly for the president. When a person votes they are voting
for an elector that has pledged their vote or allegiance to the running party. The Framers realized that without widespread communications available at
the time and with other varying factors an "each vote counts" or "the popular vote" system would not be practical. Because of this they formed the
Electoral College system, Under Article II of the US Constitution, although this system was never called this in the Article. This system has survived
for over 200 years, ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Although no Elector had ever been prosecuted. Just in this century alone there have been 7 faithless Electors, the most recent was in 1988. Even though
this has happened many times, it has never changed the outcome of the election.
Many people fear that the Electoral College may cause a decline in voter turnout. They say that there is no incentive for states to encourage people to
vote. They say that people may decline to vote because many believe there vote does not count.
An issue that has plagued the system since its development is the inequality of Electoral votes from small states and large states. An example would be
in the 1988 election, the combined voting age population of 3,119,000 of the seven least populous jurisdictions of Alaska, Delaware, the District of
Columbia, North Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming carried the same voting strength in the Electoral College as the 9,614,000 voting age people in the
State of Florida. Due to this each vote in Florida was only about 1/3 the weight of the other states listed.
Third parties have a large disadvantage in the Electoral College system. Most states allot their Electoral Votes that favor a tow–party system. Even if a
third party candidate receives a large amount of vote they still may not receive even on Electoral vote. This actually happened in 1992 when Ross
Perot won 18% of the popular vote but did not win any Electoral votes.
There are many people that feel that the Electoral College

Advantages And Disadvantages Of The Electoral System
be noted that elections have been characterised by violence during and after the elections, and also despite the conduct of elections, Zimbabwean
political culture is that of a one party which has been able to win all the elections since post– independence. Also, from the literature above, there seem
to be lack of consideration on the aftermath of democratic elections in terms of electoral violence. There is much emphasis on regular conduct of
elections as a determinant to democratic governance, but there seems to be ignorance on the mechanisms to sustain democratic governance. Elections
do not indicate a perception of elections as a tool for political empowerment of the poor but rather indicate perception of an opportunity to trade votes
for material profit or favour.
4.0 Forms of Elections
There are many electoral systems throughout the world and there is little consensus as to which is the best with regard to representation, broader
participation, democratic governance, stability and legitimacy. An electoral system, or simply a... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
It promotes effective and stable government. It also reduces the influence of political parties based on racial and ethnic cleavages, unless they are
geographically concentrated.It is simple to understand, cheap and fairly quick to count the votes and work out whom has won; meaning results can
be declared relatively quickly after the polls close (Cameroon, 2011). Plurality system encourages local accountability. It increases the possibility of
producing a clear winner, and is easily understandable; and it permits major changes of policy according to the electorate's wishes (Amtaika,
2013:103). Also, in a political environment, it enables voters to clearly express a view on which party they think should form the next government
without fear (Dorey, 2008). It is ideally suited to a two– party system and usually produces single party governments like in the case of

Electoral College Voting System
It's interesting to notice that in those four disputed elections of 1800, 1824, 1876 and 1960, the winner of the popular vote didn't become President
because they weren't the winners of the Electoral College votes. The first two instances were mainly due to an unorganized system because of the early
establishment. However, there is a recurring pattern in the later elections.
In 1800, the problem was that the electors had two votes, one for President and one for the Vice President, which, based on the outcome, resulted in the
adoption of the 12th Amendment which ensured that a tied vote for President wouldn't happen again. In the 1824 election resulted in the creation of two
political parties which were the Democratic and the Whig parties.

Britain's Electoral System
The change of electoral system of Britain from first–past–the–post to form of proportional representation caused discussions and argues in the whole
country. Does new system inspirit and change course to better or lead to weak and indecisive government? Whereas first–past–the–post developed
stable majorities in parliament, there are always was a lack of suffer from grave shortcomings, for example majority of population remains
unrepresented in government bodies, and a party, which wins less voices in selection than their contestants, can be represented by more seats. Nation
is looking forward to see the fairness and progress of parliamentary works of country, which can be motivated by advantageousness of proportional
representation. ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
This is why the proportional representation is more fair system than first–past–the–post.
Nevertheless proportional representation has it disadvantages. First of all, there are complexity in formation of government because of multi–party
coalitions includes parties with different majorities, goals and assignments. Owing to that, it is quite hard to produce common, clear and strong
program. A regime, which is based on this background, differs with instability. Secondly this system brings to the situation when legation in
government bodies gets political power. Also, in proportional representation, because ofelection process carry out with political parties, not with
specific candidates, direct connection between constituents and their representatives is weak. Finally, whereas the election of this system is for
political parties, delegates depend on their partial guidance. It can badly result in debates and important documents adoption. It seems clear that both
first–past–the–post and proportional representation electoral systems have their own advantages and disadvantages. However, no doubts, despite all
this disadvantages, comparing two systems gives that in multi–party conditions proportional presentation more democratic than first–past–the–post.
Eventually, the analysis of advantages and disadvantages of proportional representation shows that even with this numerous defects of system, PR can
inspirit government with only

The Electoral College System Essays
The Electoral College System
After the last presidential election, which is still underway apparently, there is much controversy over what should happen to the Electoral College
system. There are people who say that the Electoral College is good but should be modified to meet the needs of the modern world. There are those
who say that the Electoral College system is too outdated to be modified and should be entirely eliminated. Finally there are those who say that it is has
stood the test of time and is still the best system for our country.
The original framers of the constitution obviously preferred the electoral system to a direct popular election. The argument that historians give for this
is that they preferred this system ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
There have been many attempts to reform or even scrap the Electoral College election sense it's birth. The most recent one being in 1997 when
congress debated a constitutional amendment to replace the electoral system with a direct popular vote system. However the Electoral College system
to this day remains virtually un–changed from its original form. The only exception is the twelfth amendment, which requires each elector to cast two
votes, one for president and one for vice president.
Under the current system there are five hundred and thirty eight electors. Each state gets one elector, each representative, and a senator. A presidential
candidate needs two hundred and seventy votes to win the election. The electors meet after the November popular election to cast their votes and
officially elect the president. Electors may vote for whomever they wish. Each state's electoral votes are awarded on a winner take all bases.
The arguments to modify or eliminate the Electoral College system are all derived from the notion that it is outdated. Under the current system if a
candidate wins a large states like California, then they win twenty percent of the needed votes even though California only accounts for eleven percent
of the U.S. population. What's more is a president can be elected without winning a majority of the popular vote. This has happened 15 times in U.S.
history. The

Canada Electoral System
Canadians were subjected to the longest election campaign in modern history when the writs issued of August 4th for a vote on October 19th
(Marland, 2015). By calling elections early, Harper took a calculated decision positioned to favor the Conservatives as the passage of laws like the Fair
Elections Act increased election spending limits and disenfranchised certain voters. Moreover, with the First Past the Post electoral system with single
member ridings in Canada where candidates win seats by getting more votes than any other rival in specific constituencies, the Conservatives only
needed to win more seats than any other party. Unlike in Proportional Representation electoral systems which roughly reflect the amount of voters
voting for the ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
For instance, if 30% of the electorate supported a party like NDP then roughly 30% of the seats would be won by them. Moreover, different electoral
systems would result in a different balance between the parties and different degrees of party cohesion as the more the electoral mechanism used to
elect the upper and lower chambers differ, the more diverse the representation would be in terms of political parties and the more these bodies would
claim to represent different dimensions of society. Furthermore, an early election call under the PR system would not just spit out the same parties with
different seat counts, but more and different parties with different electoral bases (APA). Additionally, as the PR permits minority representation, a
long campaign would allow political parties to ensure their party lists are representative of cultural and political minorities and appease a wide section
of the electorate to ensure their majority within

Canada's Electoral System
It has become widely accepted that Canada uses a first past the post electoral system. However, this system may not be in the best interest of Canada
any more. There are many reasons why Canada should change its electoral system to a mixed member proportional one, a variant of proportional
representation. With a first past the post system, the elected officials will always be of the majority and this excludes minorities from fair
representation. Adopting MMP can create stronger voter turnouts, more personal campaigning, better individual representation, and better party
selection. John Hiemstra and Harold Janson, are both in favour of a MMP electoral system. They understand that with the switch, the citizens will get
more representation in... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
One can come to a conclusion that plurality systems have a major flaw and that is inequality. Adopting a MMP would be a huge step forward in
Canadian democracy. With a MMP system in place, more women would be elected to the legislature because it creates fairness. With more women in
the legislature, it can make a substantial difference in the types of laws that may be proposed and passed. Another advantage MMP brings to Canada
is instead of electing one member of the legislature in each small district, Canada would use larger districts to elect several members. To add to this
advantage, the candidates that win the seats in these multi–member districts are determined by the proportion of votes each party receives. With
Canada's current electoral system, one citizen's vote counts for less than another citizen's vote. By changing to a MMP system, Canada can give more
equality and fairness back to the citizens.
Proportional representation is almost always acknowledged as the fairest electoral system. With this in mind, many still reject a mixed member
proportional system. Critics argue that the current method has produced a stable and effective government, while MMP would create an ineffective
government. Wiseman feels that since Canada has been consistently stable, our electoral system does not need to be changed. Hiemstra and Jansen
disagree with the plurality system that is currently in place for it does not produce fair

The Canadian Electoral System
Canada's electoral system has come under scrutiny by citizens who believe it is not a fair representation of a modern democracy. The idea of
reformation has been an issue in Canada through out it's history. Most recently, the idea of an electoral system reformation was a key political goal of
the Liberal party in the 2015 election, but was later abandoned by the party, outraging many Liberal voters who saw the reformation as an issue for
which they voted for (Liberal Party of Canada 2015). It has become clear that Canadians want change in the way they elect their government. The
current Canadian electoral system is in dire need of reform to better represent voters, increase voter turnout, and discourage strategic voting. The
Canadian government ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Voters feel as though they are not able to vote for who they like, as their vote will go to waste. So, many Canadians who would associate themselves
with smaller parties do not cast their ballot sincerely, rather, voting strategically for whichever party they see as less deplorable and has a chance of
winning (Derriennic 2016). Furthermore, strategic voting can easily be manipulated through rumours or polls that can sway the opinion of voters. This
hurts the democratic purpose of elections. Voters need to know that they can vote for who they want rather than having to vote for who they hate the
least. Ideally, a preferential system should be instituted to guarantee voters are voting for who they want, not who they think will win. This use of
strategic voting was prevalent in the 2015 election, as many tried to rally the country around the Liberal party to unseat the incumbent Conservative
party. Websites such as strategicvoting.ca and votetogether.ca, as well as several social media campaigns on Facebook and Twitter implored Green
Party and NDP voters to strategically vote for the Liberals to avoid another term of Stephen Harper and the Conservative party (Jackson 2016).
Voters need a fair way to elect members of parliament without the need for strategic voting. This entire ordeal could easily be avoided if a preferential
system was in place that allowed voters to rank their preferences and

The Main Alternative Electoral System
Firstly, in this proposal, the different features of the main alternative electoral systems will be outlined along with the judgement of whether the
Conservative party should advocate or oppose the respective system, in addition to ordering the preferences of the following systems. To begin with,
the main alternatives, in terms of electoral reform, are mixed–member proportional (MMP) and preferential or ranked ballot where the former has
proportionality as the formula and the latter usually has majority as the threshold. In addition, there is also the current electoral system, the
first–past–the–post system (FPTP), which depends on having plurality as the threshold. As such, opposing electoral reform is key to retaining power
because... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Besides, the Conservative party can argue for the status–quo on the merits that it facilitates a majority which makes government more efficient, that it
excludes extremist or fragmented parties, and that it avoids fractionalization. The latter point is particularly true as plurality, particularly FPTP, breeds
lower amount of parties due to voters voting strategically. Because in strategic voting, voters avoid small parties for the fear of not 'wasting' their
votes, because of the high threshold in this plurality system. Adjacently, in that context, parties also have an incentive to merge to pass high thresholds
of representation. Regardless, the positive aspects of plurality include its simplicity, efficiency along its ability to produce governments that need not
depend on the support of other parties which are all facts that the Conservatives can use to lobby against any electoral change. And more pertinently in
this case, it leads to a more coherent opposition, the Conservatives in this instance, by offering voters a clear choice in a system that is easy to
understand. And this is part of the reason why the Conservatives should stay with the status–quo and advocate for it. Furthermore, an electoral reform
being proposed is a change to a preferential or ranked ballot. In this type of ballot, the formula employed to calculate the threshold of votes needed to
secure a seat is usually a majority, more than

Electoral Systems in the Caribbean
Essay Question Number 4; The Electoral systems in the Caribbean needs to be changed. How real is this view?
An election as a political process serves as the single most important mechanism for citizens to participate in the selection of a government. When
conducted to international standards, elections tend to confer legitimacy on a government. In the Commonwealth Caribbean, the electoral experience
varies and tends to reflect not only the socio–political culture of the member state but also its particular electoral system.
The electoral system determines the difference between votes and seats; how votes are translated into seats. How many and what kind of votes are
needed to get a seat varies from system to system. As a result, ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Electoral systems in the region are mainly of the first–past–the post type. Electoral systems are essentially the electoral formula used for electing the
executive and legislature. In the Anglo–Caribbean countries (except Guyana), the first–past–the–post system elects the members of parliament, a
majority of whom nominate the prime minister. In the Latin Caribbean and Guyana the electoral formula is more complicated, often including
proportional representation and either an indirectly or directly elected president. Caribbean electoral systems reflect the influence of the former colonial
powers and national circumstances such as the racial composition of the population.
Elections and electoral systems aim at converting the popular will expressed as votes into choices between candidates of political parties for political
offices in the executive and legislature. The electoral system therefore reflects itself in the party system and the structure of governmental
representation. This association between elections, parties and government takes different forms. Ideal electoral systems should comprise of
competition, effective government, and fair representation along with free and fair voting.
A review of the Caribbean electoral system show how these aims are attempted and the strengths and weaknesses encountered. In the Dominican
Republic there is a mixed electoral system where the

Electoral College System Essay
The roots of the Electoral College System can be traced way back to more than 200 years. A controversial debate on the effectiveness of Electoral
College continues over years. The founders established it as a resolution between president choice by a vote in congress and choice of the president by
qualified citizens' popular vote. 538 electors constituted the Electoral College and 270 majorities of electoral votes choose the president. The United
States got its independence from Great Britain, and its government based on the Articles of Confederation (Burgan 9). According to Burgan, under the
article, the states acted almost like separate nations (9). It is well–known that the United States president becomes elected by Electoral College and ...
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The system also maintains the nations' federal character since combinations of even small states opinions receives attention. A small portion of a very
populous state cannot overshadow the minority. The status of the minority is enhanced as they influence critical edge for candidates to emerge
victorious. Contestants get encouraged to venture into minorities through the system and not ignore them. The College also eliminates most election
problems. According to Bugh, the system essentially assigns to the winner the votes of the people who voted against that candidate (159). He
continues that because there is no way to total votes across states, the votes for candidates who do not win a state do not have a role in the outcome of
elections (159). In–case of recounts, it occurs only in states and not nationwide. I believe the college encourages stability via the two–party system
where regional minorities are not undermined.
The intention for the design of Electoral College appeared to choose a person that demonstrates both popular support and a broad distribution of
support. This goal becomes an achievement over the past decades. Some critics think that voting power of smaller states gets overrepresented. They
fail to acknowledge the democratic will of all states as equal despite their low populations. Presidential campaigns disperse

The Electoral System Of Canada Essay
The electoral system in Canada is also known as a "first past the post" system. "First past the post" means the candidate with the highest number of
votes wins the congressional seat, whereas the other candidates with a lower number of votes don't get any representation. There are many cons to
this system that will be highlighted throughout this essay. I will argue that the electoral system requires reform due to the discrepancies between the
percentage of popular votes and the number of seats won. Canada's electoral system has many problems and is not seen as fully democratic since it
has provided poor representation for both candidates that win and lose. Candidates can win seats with less than 50% of votes, meaning that even if the
majority of the nation, or province did not vote for the candidate they still win the election as they consume the highest number of votes among the
parties. FPTP allows two people in different ridings to get the same number of votes with the outcome of one winner since the distribution of votes and
seats are unequal. The system can also encourage strategic voting such as not voting for whom you think is the best fit but voting for the candidate
that seems most likely to win in order to beat candidate you dislike. FPTP leads to an imbalance of power and has the potential for corruption.
One factor that was alarming about the "first past the post" system is shown through this example; given four candidates (A, B, C, and D) the one that
has the

Essay on Government and Electoral Systems
Majoritarian system provides for a stable government but considering South Africa's political stability in the past, it can be argued that a hybrid system
leaning more towards proportional representation is much more effective and relevant than a strictly majoritarian or proportional system to the South
African government because of it's inclusivity of all of the South African diverse citizens remedying the previous inequalities that the apartheid system
introduced. Drawing from the ideologies of Norris and Blais, the major differences between majoritarian and proportional representation and as well as
the two electoral systems that allow for accountability and social representation go into the argument for proportional representation ... Show more
content on Helpwriting.net ...
This is where majoritarian system differs from that of proportional as it has one party that represents the needs of the nation rather than various parties.
Additionally in 1994, post apartheid South Africa adopted proportional representation to remedy the inequalities caused by the apartheid regime and
essentially represented each ethnic group's needs
The introduction of the closed list policy came during the 1994, South Africa's first democratic elections when the African National Congress (ANC)
decided to implement the proportional representational electoral system with every intention of ensuring a democracy that caters for all of the South
African citizens.
Accountability refers to the duty that the elected government has to its people while it is in office . With regards to a majoritarian system, power and
accountability lie in the hands of the ruling party therefore the government is fully liable to it's citizens. However, in proportional representation, the
government is comprised of many political parties who jointly make decisions. 'Ambiguity and compromise are introduced on a secondary level
whenever coalitions are formed' . Essentially a particular party cannot be held liable in a coalition government

The Electoral System Of The United Kingdom
As one of Europe's oldest democratic countries, the United Kingdom consequently has one of the oldest voting systems, a plurality system often called
First–Past–The–Post. The system relies on a basic principle; voters can vote for only one candidate and the candidate who receives the most votes
wins the seat. (UK Parliament Website, 2014) As the quotation from David Cameron shows, the system is often hailed as one of the simplest voting
systems possible, and is mainly used in the U.K for national elections.
However, more recently different voting systems have been used by devolved powers throughout the U.K – like the Scottish parliament –– as well as
for other votes such as the European Parliament. (Ministry of Justice, 2008, pp. 24–25) These different voting systems are based on proportional
representation, a term which characterises various types of electoral system, but share one main idea – the proportion of votes received correlates
directly with the amount of seats a party wins. As democracy has become more widespread, other countries within Europe have naturally developed
different electoral systems. Particularly, France is one of the few other countries in Europe who practice a very similar type of electoral system as the
United Kingdom. The majority of countries in Europe, such as Germany, favour systems with an element of proportional representation.
Despite the First–Past–The–Post system being viewed as relatively fair and simple, proportional representation has

Electoral System Disadvantages
Elections are the key to a functioning democratic system. Those who study political science seek to understand the variety of electoral systems that
exist nationally. An electoral system is a set of rules that determines how elections should be conducted and thus, how the results should be determined.
The electoral systems processes are so crucial and have such profound effects on the world, it is important to understand the different types of electoral
systems and their advantages and disadvantages. The first type is the electoral system that determines national executive power. Presidents and other
chief political executives are elected through this whether direct or indirectly. In elections, a vote is casted on a ballot of different eligible candidates.
Due to this type of electoral system being democratic, it is the people who elect who they want as their next president or president type. However, with
this type of election, when only one candidate is able to grab fifty percent of the eligible votes, there is another 'round' where the top two who got the
fifty percent vote, they are to run head to head. This is often referred to as the Two Round System (TRS). Finally, whoever wins the final 'round' the
system then elects a winner that was supported by the majority vote. This type of direct mechanism can be seen throughout different countries such as
Argentina and Poland. Alternatively, the indirectvoting mechanism can be seen throughout the United States of

The Electoral College Voting System
In the heavily political world we live in today, there are both upsides and downsides to our current system. And with every aspect of our system,
politicians can come up with loopholes to benefit themselves. We are provided free healthcare, but you must fit certain circumstances in order to
receive it. We have the right to a fair trial, but a "fair" trial can quickly become a matter of race, religion, or beliefs. In the same way, ourdemocracy
and how we elect our president must be dealt with a tablespoon of salt.
The Electoral College is our voting system based off of 538 votes dispersed over the span of all 50 states. It is based off of population rather than size;
a state with a massive population like New York gets twenty–nine votes while a more scarce state like Montana only gets three votes. If a majority of
the previously elected voters vote for a particular candidate, then all of the votes for that state is delegated to said candidate.
This has benefitted the United States for decades. ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Gerrymandering, a tactic used by the federal government, separates people of an opposing party using county lines just enough so that their favored
party gets the majority of the votes. By this logic, the outcomes of the presidential election has already been decided before candidates begin the
campaign trail. Gerrymandering is the reason we can assume which states are swinging Republican or Democratic. The votes that don't coincide with
the state's previously chosen candidate are completely forgotten, and can only be valid in the popular vote race. While trying to come up with a plan to
participate everyone, the government has therefore silenced other voters. Voters who care about their country. Voters who believe in change. Voters
who don't want to be punished for an amendment they weren't even alive to see it take

The Electoral System Of Canada
The 2015 Canadian Federal Election, which saw Justin Trudeau become the new Prime Minister, brought in the highest ever number of voters in
Canadian history. Despite the high confidence of the Conservative party to win this election, many factors contributed to their defeat. Chief among
these factors, which is the focus of this paper, pertains to the type of electoral system employed in Canada: the "first–past–the–post" (FPTP) or
"single–member plurality." This paper presents an analysis of the outcome of the 2015 election that is grounded in a discussion of how different
electoral systems produce the particular structures that directly contribute to election results. Electoral systems have a significant impact on who
becomes the leader... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Canada's FPTP electoral system has been and continues to be criticized, however. Primary among the reasons for this is the disproportionality of the
federal election outcomes – specifically, the vast discrepancy between the percentage of votes and percentage of seats. This means that a political
party can win majority government even if they fail to win a majority of the votes. This FPTP system has also been said to lead to small parties being
under–represented in election outcomes, which may misleadingly underestimate the popularity of their views than is actually the case (Donley, 2003).
Moreover, because the percentage of seats is not in proportion to the MPs' share of votes in their ridings, the common sentiment among voters is that
their vote is essentially wasted. The issue of disproportionality has been used as a basis to propose electoral reform in Canada. The alternatives to
Canada's current FPTP electoral system include, but are not limited to, proportional representation (PR) and the alternative vote system. In PR systems,
seats are distributed on a nationwide or regional basis. Parties' victories stem from their proportion of the vote in multi–member constituencies (Donley,
2003). Advocates of the PR system point to the distorted preferences of voters in a single–member plurality system and thus the fairness of having a

America's Presidential Election System: The Electoral College
Do you know how our country's Presidential election system (The Electoral College) works? For many years I didn't know much about the Electoral
College, except that they were the system that elected the president. So join me as we discover the aspects of the Electoral College. Our founding
fathers created a special election system called the Electoral College to elect the Presidents of America. The Electoral College's Function, the reasoning
behind its creation, its mathematics, and how those mathematics impact campaigns are extremely fascinating.
The Electoral College's system is a complex process. There are a certain number of Electors in each state. The Electors of every state are nominated by
political parties, then on Election

The Electoral System Of Elections And Voting
Democracy has existed since ancient Greece, serving as an inspiration for others and the foundation of many governments of today. Nevertheless, with
time democracy has evolved and numerous forms have been produced. Though these forms are all democratic, they all have their benefits and
shortcomings. The differing electoral systems of countries highlight their levels of democracy and the effectiveness of their government. A common
subject matter in the debate of electoral systems is whether to create an effective government or represent the views of all. The many differing
electoral systems have their own pros and cons, each showing what a country values most in its government. Conceivably the most significant feature
of a democracy is the electoral system. In the scholarly article "Comparing Democracies: New Challenges in the Study of Elections and Voting",
Lawrence Leduc writes, "the electoral system... defines how votes are cast and seats allocated". The electoral system itself determines which candidate
emerges victorious from an election. However, these systems are not simple. Though electoral systems can be qualified as majoritarian, proportional, or
mixed, the systems of different countries all differ; especially in complexity and degree of representation. A webpage published by Georgetown
University with author Charles King states, "There are many different types of electoral systems in use around the world, and even within individual
countries, different electoral

The Electoral College System Should Be Kept
Democratic theorist, Robert Dahl once said, "...every member must have an equal and effective opportunity to vote, and all votes must be counted as
equal." This quote greatly summarizes what the Electoral College system means; every person in the United States is guaranteed one vote. Everyone
should have an equal opportunity to elect who serves in the government, and we are given that opportunity through this system. This is what the
Founding Fathers came up with in order to solve the problems they faced over 200 years ago. However, some have opposed this system is not fit for
this democracy, and argue that other systems would work more fairly. On the contrary, I strongly believe that theElectoral College system should be
kept because it is the fairest way to elect the President. What is the Electoral College? The Electoral College is a system that our Founding Fathers
established in the Constitution in which representatives from the 50 states elect the President of the United States. The system begins with the people
electing representatives to represent them, and then the representatives meet so they can vote for the next President and Vice President. The votes
from each representative are then counted by Congress and are able to elect the candidate that has the most votes. According to the U.S. National
Archives and Records Administration (2013), "The Electoral College consists of 538 electors...270 electoral votes is required to elect the President."
Every state has an

The Electoral and Campaign System
Essay Question #1 There are many types of voting systems. Two popular ones are the winner–takes–all and the proportional voting system. These two
voting systems are a big effect in the world of elections. First, is the winner–takes–all voting system which is also known as the majority/plurality
systems. This is the one that is most common to people in the U.S. This is the type of system that is used to elect most officials in our government.
There are four types of this winner–takes–all system: instant runoff, At–large, two round runoff, and single member district plurality. The most known
one is the single member district plurality. This is what is used most of the time when we American's vote in officials. This involves a bunch of check
boxes next to people's names and you check the person who you want to vote for. This represents the winner–takes–all because the person with the
majority or most votes wins the election. Second, is a system called proportional representation. This is the biggest opposition to the winner–takes–all
system. The way it works is instead of using single–member districts they use multimember districts. The amount of seats a party gets is based on a
proportion of how much support they get. For example if a party only gets say ten percent of the votes they only get two seats. This would have a lot
of effects if it was used in the U.S. general elections. Such as fairer gender and race representation, and it would make people want to come out

Canadian Electoral System
When evaluating either the liberal democracy or constitutional monarchy in Canada it is rudimentary and essential to first recognize that any one given
governing structure or system cannot unequivocally be correct or incorrect. Therefore, the present Canadian liberal democratic system functions well;
nonetheless, it would further benefit from adopting both the Nordic democratic socialist model and the proportional representation electoral system. The
Nordic governing system would benefit the individuals by providing them with parallel wages, universal health care, free or affordable education,
public pension plans, welfare, and free trade. Next, if Canada is to adopt the proportional representation electoral system the votes will better represent
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However, Canada can advance its current democratic liberalism by implanting the Nordic system and bringing in electoral reform through the
proportional representation electoral system. Despite this, the current liberal democratic state of Canada is not completely flawed; for instance,
Canadian citizens are granted many overlooked rights such as the right to compel the government into changing their decision. Thus, Canada's
governing system, although not completely faulty, will take a step in a positive direction by establishing the Nordic System, introducing proportional
representation, and continuing to protect the right to the defiance of

United States Electoral System
The portal I envision consists of the complete revamping of the United States electoral system. The current method for electing presidents is the most
undemocratic, horrifically convoluted, and downright ridiculous system that I have ever observed. My favored electoral system would work to serve
its purpose: to elect the people's choice. The electoral college is a mangled amalgam of 50–separate First–Past–the–Post elections that indirectly select
the president in rather disproportionate methods; in addition, it produces swing states, allows for faithless electors, makes certain votes worth more
than other votes, and, most importantly, retains the spoiler effect. The destruction of the spoiler effect, which is the introduction of the ability for
similar candidates to run against one another without splitting the vote, can occur in ranked, range, and approval voting systems. My favorite of the
three – a ranked voting system, specifically instant runoff voting – allows voters to simply rank the candidates in order of their preferences. In this ...
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This system, typically called mixed–member proportional representation, consists of electing representatives for individual constituencies in the same
method as the presidency. The remainder of the seats are filled in such a manner to make the total representation proportional to the total number of
votes for each voter's chosen party. This system would allow third parties like the Libertarian, Green, and Constitution parties to gain seats in Congress
and introduce novel ideas into the political sphere. Our current system, instead of excluding extremists and radicals, just normalizes them within the
two main political parties and pushes discussion towards becoming an ineffective mudslinging

Election Day Rises And The Electoral College System
As election day rises, so does significant questions surrounding the Electoral College system. Mainly the subject of whether or not to disband the
system will again be a hot topic amongst voters and legislatures. The question that remains in the minds of the everyday voter is if their vote actually
counts toward appointing a President when a system such as the Electoral College is in place. Nevertheless, before forming an opinion on the matter it
is important that one consider what the Electoral College actually is and how it functions, furthermore understanding why the framers of the
Constitution thought it necessary to create this system. To properly form an opinion, avenues of critics and supporters must both be explored. Only
through this considerable amount of information gathered can you take a stance on the topic. Rooted in Article II section I of the constitution, the
electoral college is a system put in place to delegate the Presidency. The Electors that comprise the electoral college are 435 House of representative
members 100 senators along with 3 electors appointed from the the District of Columbia, for a total of 538. To win the the Presidency a Candidate
must receive 270 votes from the electoral college, the number of electoral votes a state has varies based on population and the representation the State
has in Congress. Appointed Electors are voted into the position by popular demand, nevertheless regardless of their states popular vote toward a
particular

The Electoral College: An Outdated and Flawed System
The infrastructure of American government, as set forth by the Constitution, has been subject to multiple changes and adaptations over the course of
history. These additions and changes, however, are uncommon and only occur when an unavoidable and potentially crippling problem arises. The
process of amending the Constitution can be likened to the restoration process of a historical house; even though changes are made to allow for the
building to be functional in current times, the main essence of the building is maintained – everything that does not absolutely need to be changed
remains unchanged. Although amendments to the Constitution are difficult to accomplish, an issue has been festering under the surface of attention
for centuries has bubbled to the surface within the last two decades. This issue is the apparent flaws of the Electoral College System. The government
is capable of functioning with this outdated and flawed system; however, it would function more efficiently if the system was replaced with a system
that allowed the president to be elected by a direct popular vote. The only way to accomplish this completely would be to pass an Amendment. The
Electoral College is the current system for electing the next president and the process is as follows: a direct popular vote is conducted in each state –
each of which has a fixed amount of Electoral votes based on the population of the state – and then the winner is determined by a simple majority of
Electoral

Electoral System Flaws

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