The Electoral College Favors Swing States
In the current status of the political system, it is evident that the Electoral College relinquishes favor to swing states. This can be proved by the sentiment, "With 200 electoral seats out of the 270 needed to win nearly guaranteed for both the Republican and the Democratic candidate, the party nominees spend a disproportionate amount of their time and money in Florida, as well as Colorado, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Ohio. Swing states have also enjoyed significantly higher voter turnout than non-swing states," (Curtis, 2015, p. 1). Due to the fact that most candidates only place their focus on swing states, the interest of the majority is ignored. Therefore, those who reside in noncompetitive safe states may feel as though their votes are deemed worthless.
"The central argument is that campaigns affect voters and electorates,” (Shaw, 2006, p. 92). Under the current system, an individual vote is valuable only in persuading the majority of their state to vote for their desired candidate, thus a small bias is present. Residents of swing states are the most important members in the pool to presidential elections. The outcome of an election is never clear because swing states do not specify as Democratic or Republican. Those residing in swing states vote for the candidate who they believe will provide best interest in the people and the economy, rather than solely basing their decision on political factions. Everyone’s vote should be distributed equally according to the principles of democracy set forth by our Founding Fathers.
With respect to the wonderful state in which we each share the experience of living in, the state of Connecticut, "The NPVIC is good for Connecticut and good for the country. Under a national popular vote system, all votes will count equally and politicians will have to listen to all Americans, not just the select few in swing states," (Cohen, 2019, p. 1). Again, this all relates back to the practice of elections and campaigning. A true democracy is one that boasts COMPETITIVE elections and the current electoral system is preventing such to take place.
The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact will essentially advance the impact of the popular vote by forcing electors to vote for the candidate that represents the will of the state they are representing. The NPVIC is not new, however, as it was developed in 2006 but failed to reach the threshold- 270 votes. While the traditional Republican is cringing right now reading across my sentiments, get this: "For the second time in 16 years the will of the American people has been hijacked by the Electoral College. Enough is enough," said Leland. "This National Popular Vote legislation will add Ohio to the compact of states that believe, in a true Democracy, the candidate with the most votes wins," (Ramos & Leland, 2016, p. 1). If we peel the artichoke (or break down) the central components encompassing this argument, what is essential to ensuring democracy for the people is to put the NPVIC into practice.
