May 4, 2024 By Evan Klick 3 min read

The Electoral College has been effective since it was instituted by the Founding Fathers.

But does it truly represent the voice of the people? That is a commonly debated question by many, but in my opinion, it doesn’t represent everyone fairly.

First, the Electoral College ensures that smaller states’ voices are heard by balancing the amount of electoral votes to population size. This system is ineffective because it doesn’t truly voice American opinions. Over 330 million call America their home, but only 160 million vote. And the voices of those 160 million people are represented by just the 538 electors in the Electoral College.

I believe this is unjust and doesn’t represent the ideals of a true democracy. The democratic ideals are the rights and freedoms of an individual. If a small portion of a state votes Democratic but is overwhelmed by Republican votes, then Democratic voters will feel their votes are voided and don’t matter. This winner-take-all system doesn’t truly represent the voice of America.

Second, the United States has swing states, which are states that are fairly balanced in the party they support. These states are very close to 50/50 and tend to change the outcome of an election. Not all of the states are equally represented if the candidates focus on winning the swing states. More advertisements go up in those states, and residents of the smaller states who aren’t seeing these advertisements will feel that their vote won’t be influential enough and is useless. The swing states change often and whoever wins the swing states really can decide the election.

Finally the Electoral College can override the popular vote, which happened in the 2000 presidential election. Al Gore was a clear favorite to win the election, but the outcome in Florida was undecided and time was ticking down on the election. Many believe the recount was unjust and only represented certain counties, rather than the full state. George W. Bush received 271 electoral votes to Gore’s 266 and ultimately won the election. This does not truly represent the voice of the American people because they clearly wanted Gore to win.

The Electoral College has been the subject of debate for a long time. People think it represents the American voice, and some people don’t. I stand with those who don’t believe it represents the voice of the people.

Evan Klick is an eighth grade student at Trinity Middle School. Klick’s essay was the first-place winner in this year’s Law Day editorial essay contest, sponsored by the Washington County Bar Association.