The Electoral System

[evirus]

With president bush becoming more and more of a lame duck as the days go by I figured it would interesting to hear your take on our electoral system.

Basically I’m asking your opinions on the system, weather you think it works or doesn’t, what you think would be a good way to improve it or a different system that would be better then the current one

[FloridaPat]

1. I should have been tossed out decades ago. It's something that

keeps us a 2 party system. The 2 big parties have control of the states so a third party can't ever win the electorate in my opinion. Plus it makes everything a game. Easy to cheat. Time to get rid of it.

[Poiuyt]

2. Very archaic

Maybe it was right in the 1700's, but this is one area of the Constitution that REALLY needs to be updated. I'm in favor of some variation of Instant Runoff Voting. This has the benefit of eliminating the spoiler roll of a third party candidate.

http://www.instantrunoff.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant-runoff_voting

[evirus]

3. America The Book

an excerpt from America The Book, page 129, classroom activities: number one(the book is made up like a text book)

1) Make the electoral college come alive! Divide your entire school into 50 groups of varying sizes. Then assign a point value to each group roughly based on its size. Have each individual student then vote on an issue say "chocolate or vanilla." Tally the votes but tell them the side with the most votes isn't necessarily the winner. Instead, calculate the winner with in each of the 50 groups, then give the previously assigned point value to the respective flavor. Add up the point values and see who has more. Isn't this a better way to figure out a winner?

[serryjw]

4. It's time has come and gone BUT

We have a chance 'like a snow ball in hell' of changing it. IF we had IVR (which I support) WE would actually have a say in whom our leaders are and NOT the Corporations that support the 2 party system.

We must start on the State level. We have 2 states (Maine & Nebraska) that do not have 'winner take all'. That will take about 50 years to change 50 State Constitutions. Since 90% of Americans did not KNOW until election 2000 that we do NOT elect out President whom is going to explain to them the importance of this? Whom is going to finance the State referendums??

[WritingIsMyReligion]

5. I absolutely

abhor the electorate system. Maybe it worked about a century ago, but not any longer. The individualized vote just becomes tossed into a two-party cesspool, and there's no room for third-party candidates.

It sucks.