The Electoral College in the United States is a mechanism adopted by the Constitution for the indirect election of both the President and the Vice President. Citizens of each state and the District of Columbia vote for electors, who total an equal number of senators and representatives 538, in the general election who then in return vote for the candidate of a particular party, be it the Republican or Democratic candidate. Each voter can cast only one vote for president and another for vice president. The candidate receiving the greatest number of votes in the constituency elections held on the third Monday in December. The vote will then be certified by Congress in early January, and the newly elected president and vice president's terms will begin at noon on January 20. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The electoral college was originally established to help maintain a representative form of government. The system has some advantages or advantages for the voters. For example, this is believed to improve the status of minority interests (Cebula, p. 56). Ethnic minority groups in the United States tend to be concentrated in minority states with the greatest number of electoral votes, and their interests are therefore not diminished by depressing voter participation. The constituency is believed to safeguard the interests of citizens in less busy places. Another advantage of the electoral college is the fact that it facilitates a two-party system in the nation which creates more stability (Edwards III). It also directs more power to the states by allowing them to choose delegates and this helps maintain a representative form of government. The Electoral College voting system is marred by three major flaws. First, there is a risk that the winner of the popular vote will not win the presidency, for example the last election in 2016 where Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, but Donald Trump won the Electoral College vote (Colomer, etc. page 32). The second flaw is that the Constitution does not require electors to vote for the candidate who wins the popular vote in their state. However it is necessary but not expected. Another flaw is that if neither candidate won any of the votes, popular or electoral, the election would have to be decided by the House of Representatives. This therefore means that each state is only allowed one vote and that states with smaller populations would be equal to states with larger populations. If a state representative is undecided, the state loses its vote. Faithless electors are members of the electoral college who do not vote for the presidential candidate for whom they pledged to vote. They either end up voting for a different candidate or don't vote at all. In some states such as Colorado, Minnesota and Michigan, electors are forced to vote according to the state's popular vote or for the candidate for whom they are committed (National Archives article). Otherwise they are disqualified and replaced. However they have never changed the outcome of an election process, but they are still there to make a statement. The popular vote has more potential if the electoral college can be abolished. The electoral college violates the intent of the founders and therefore the popular vote, which defends democracy, should replace the electoral college. The popular vote allows every citizen with the right to vote to make their voice heard and not give up the power to select a few who perhaps do not even share the candidate's choice. The electoral college interferes with the democratic way of making decisions as it diminishes the importance of voting.