The creation of America is one of the most unique and interesting processes to study in its historical context. During a time of oppression and conformity, a nation was born based on the ideals of self-expression, self-determination, and freedom. Even today, we Americans continue to exercise the rights our ancestors died for to “create a more perfect union.” Or do we? One right that was fought for and that can almost singularly be described as the cause of the Revolutionary War is the right to self-representation or to vote. Even though an immeasurable amount of blood was shed to put this right in the hands of the people, the percentage of the population that voted in the last presidential election barely exceeded half of the voting age population, at 54.9%. (Statistical Brain). The fault lies, among many others, with the electoral college. Because of its condescending nature, its role in decreasing voter turnout, and the fact that it creates the possibility of discrepancies in presidential elections, the Electoral College should be restructured to become more conducive to modern American politics. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In the early days of American society, education was reserved exclusively for wealthy, white males. During this period, it was more important and profitable for children to help their parents on the farm rather than focus on their studies. Because of this, literacy rates were much lower than they are today. To ensure an informed decision on the presidency, the electoral college was created. However, education in America has improved dramatically since our beginnings, starting with the first compulsory education law passed by Massachusetts in 1852 (Race Forward). This marked the beginning of a long movement in which we began to value the growth of our minds over the growth of our crops. (Run forward). Not only have we become more literate, but we have also become much more politically savvy. Americans have many more avenues available to them to follow the presidential race. Coverage and speculation about future presidential candidates begins almost immediately after the current election. All you should do is turn on your favorite news station or radio station to learn about the candidates and their platforms. Of course, these news stations tend to have political biases. For example, Fox News is famously known as a right-wing news station, while CNN tends to have a very liberal slant, but having media outlets like this is a huge improvement to the virtually non-existent circulation of politics when the Constituency. Between news reports, publicized debates, and radio talk show hosts we are much more politically informed and are perfectly capable of choosing the president ourselves. As it stands, winning the popular vote in elections has very little to do with becoming the president, however, as we receive more than enough political information to make an informed decision when choosing the president, the first step in restructuring the college election is to remove its precedence over the popular vote. The popular vote is a direct representation of the people, and since our education and exposure to politics have proven us worthy, we should have this authority. If the Electoral College and the popular vote swapped places in terms of importance, presidential elections would indeed be in the cardshands of the people and not a few voters. This removes the historical idea that the typical American is not politically savvy enough to choose the president and gives more of an incentive to vote. As mentioned above, voter turnout for the latest presidential election just reached more than half the age of the voting population. In fact, according to the 2012 census of the Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, America ranks 120th out of 169 countries for which voter turnout data has been collected (LiveScience). The low voter turnout can be attributed to many reasons, such as the difficult process you need to go through to register. Another fact is that the United States is one of the few democracies that holds national elections in the middle of the workweek, and since voting in America is voluntary, we could, like other democracies, impose small fines on citizens who don't vote ( Live Science .com). While all of these reasons are true, Americans' willingness to put up with these annoyances might increase if they believed their vote actually mattered. Of course, this mentality has a lot to do with Americans' sense that their vote cannot make a difference in a sea of ​​many, however, political apathy is also a contributing factor, which the electoral college perpetuates. Lyle Scruggs of the University of Connecticut says, “Because only a few states are competitive, most presidential campaigns dump money into 10 swing states and spend almost no campaign time in the other 40” (LiveScience). In other words, presidential candidates focus heavily on states like Nevada and Florida in the hopes that their electoral votes will flow their way, virtually ignoring other states that historically go the opposite way of their party or have little electoral value. This phenomenon can make voters feel as if their vote doesn't matter, which makes them less likely to vote. As for restructuring the electoral college, the next step would be to give each state an equal number of electoral votes. A counter argument to this could be that states with larger populations may not be proportionally represented, however if we assume that the popular vote carries more weight than the Electoral College then this is not a factor as ultimately each person represents themselves. . If each state is given the same number of electoral votes, presidential candidates will be more likely to focus on the United States as a whole instead of focusing heavily on swing states. This will help voters feel that their individual vote is as important as those in Nevada and Florida and will certainly increase voter turnout. The final reason the electoral college should be restructured is to avoid discrepancies in presidential races. Thanks to the electoral college, a candidate can become president without actually winning the popular vote. In a country structured “for the people and by the people” this seems to be a blatantly obvious violation of our core values. A prime example of how the Electoral College can leave an election shrouded in uncertainty would be the presidential race between Al Gore and George W. Bush in 2000. The race all affects the state of Florida, which was initially awarded to AL Gore, later named too close to call and finally awarded to George W. Bush (Digital History). Many other discrepancies surrounded the Florida issue, such as multiple recounts and names missing from voter rolls (Digital Story). The electoral votes were ultimately awarded to George W. Bush, yielding it for the first time in one hundred and twelve years."