Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Classroom Votes v. Individual Votes




     Imagine, for a minute, that your class at school is going to select a leader. Maybe you already elect a class President as part of your Social Studies lessons.
     Each person in your class votes for the person, or candidate, that they want to see be the President. Then the votes are counted, and the candidate who gets the most votes, gets the job.
     Now imagine that your whole school is going to vote for a student to be the school's President. Any student in any classroom – Kindergarten through 6th grade, or 7th through 9th grades – may be the President of the school.
     Just as before, each person in your classroom votes for the candidate they want for President. The votes are counted, just as before, to see which candidate has received the most votes in your classroom.
     This time, after the votes are counted in each classroom, a piece of paper with the winning candidate's name on it, is sent to the office. In the office, the votes are counted by classroom, not by the individual votes candidates received in the whole school.
     The President of the school is elected by the most classroom votes.
     Let's imagine another scenario. Perhaps your planet – which right now is Earth – belongs to a federation of planets in our solar system. The Federation of Planets elects a leader, the Solar System Super Bigshot. How should the Super Bigshot be elected: by planets or by individual votes? Should your vote count equally with alien votes? Should the Earth's vote count more than Jupiter's vote, or Pluto's vote?
     When we elect the President of the United States, every citizen casts a ballot, in their county and in their state, for the candidate they believe will do the best job. Then the states count how many votes each candidate received. After the votes are counted in each state, a piece of paper – with the winning candidate's name on it – is given to electors who meet, as the Electoral College, to vote for the President.
     It isn't actually a college, like a place where people go to classes and earn degrees. But it is like the office in your school. It's the place where votes for the President are counted by states, not by the number of individual votes any candidate received.
     This is how the United States' President is elected.
     Should your school's President be chosen by classrooms, or by individual votes?
     Should the Solar System Super Bigshot be chosen by planets or by everyone's individual vote?
     Should the United States' President be chosen by states, through electors, or by individual votes?
     Many U. S. citizens believe that their individual vote should count directly for the election of a President, not through the vote of states. They don't want electors to decide who becomes President. Can you think of reasons why they feel this way? What would be some reasons to keep electors and the Electoral College?
     The system of electors is written into the constitution of the United States. That makes it pretty important, especially every four years when citizens elect a new President.