Electoral Systems in the United States Essay Example

popular vote and therefore the popular vote becomes void and null. The American elections are not characterized by the rigging of results or any theft, but it would be right for anyone to credit the system with inequality.

The few members of the Electoral College 538 to be exact are capable of determining the fate of the nation’s presidency. Any candidate who captures 270 of the total votes from the Electoral College gets to become president regardless of the initial results from the popular vote (Gringer & David, 192). If one of the candidates had won the popular vote and lost the Electoral College vote, there is no chance for him or her to become president. However, the Electoral College only votes for the two candidates who have acquired the highest number of votes in the popular vote. However, this does not give five hundred and thirty-eight individuals the right to decide the leader of over three hundred million people. The Judiciary is also another institution of grave importance in the United States elections. The judiciary is responsible for seeing to it that justice is served in the electoral system (Gringer & David, 196).
In the presidential race, the Supreme Court is the judicial court entitled with the responsibility of solving presidential issues. To this effect, the judiciary is relatively fair because the delicate nature of the presidency demands that the matter is handled with immediate effect through the Supreme Court where no appeals will be expected or allowed (Gringer & David, 215). The court settles presidential election disputes immediately and directly. Therefore, it is a vital institution in the electoral system. The judiciary has been trusted

by the citizens for many years, and its method of presenting a solution is different from that of the Electoral College.

Media

The media is the most influential tool in the Electoral process of any given country today. Both the social media and the traditional media have been on the forefront of spreading the memorandum of the candidates (Protess, David, Maxwell & McCombs, 142). Media influences the scope of view of the voters depending on what they show mostly and the perspective they introduce to the audience. The citizens only listen and follow what the media feeds them and though the citizens have their field of thought they are limited to what the media feeds them. The media shows pictures and interprets information in its perspective which is what the public gets as their primary data. The social media gives a platform for people to exchange ideas and this works perfectly for the ideology change among individuals. People’s opinions are changed by those they interact with, and others are left confused between ideologies. This influences the voter turnout and the election outcomes based on the ideas that dominate the minds of the majority (Protess, et al., 142).

Women and Minorities

Many people can be described as the minority, but their moral uprightness determines their role in the elections. In recent times women have been given equal right regarding elections, but their impact is only felt based on the concept of the community. In the last election, the major topic seemed to be based the minority groups. In fact, this was the primary weapon used by the Democrats to fight the Republicans, and most of the people had got the

Republican concept all wrong (Protess, et al., 142). Republicans were against illegal immigration, but it was made to seem that they were all immigrants. Unisexual people are also another group of interest though their numbers have not risen enough to make much of a difference in the elections.

References

1. Gringer, David. "Why the national popular vote plan is the wrong way to abolish the Electoral College." Columbia Law Review (2008): 182-230.
2. Protess, David, and Maxwell E. McCombs, eds. Agenda setting: Readings on media, public opinion, and policymaking. Routledge, 2016.