Abolish The Electoral College? Not So Fast, Say Philly Area Students

Should we abolish the electoral college?

An essay contest by the Rendell Center for Civic Education asked 5th graders this question. Their answers might surprise you

Dec. 21, 2016

Hither's the thing about the Electoral College: Until the last six weeks, hardly any of us gave information technology much more than a passing thought beyond the TV news ticker every presidential Ballot Day. Most of united states still don't empathise how this group of "electors" gets to decide who becomes President. And usually we don't care.

This twelvemonth, of course, the electors and their strange only-in-America responsibility accept get front page news, the target of letter-writing campaigns and fervent pleading from some of those who fear a Trump presidency. Suddenly, people were asking: Shouldn't we overturn the Electoral College if it does non lead to the election of the person with the most actual votes?

Desire an respond? Notice yourself one of several hundred fifth graders who participated in this year's Lenfest Citizenship Claiming, organized every yr by the Rendell Eye for Civics and Civic Engagement to consider a different constitutional issue. This year's oddly prescient claiming to 5th graders throughout the region was to write a class essay answering the question: Should the Constitution exist amended to eliminate the Electoral Higher system for selecting the President and supercede it with the national pop vote?

The competition entries were due before the election, and the students presented their ideas to a panel of judges at the Constitution Center before Mon, when the Electoral College's vote affirmed Trump's victory—and the futility of activist efforts to get electors to switch their votes. (In fact, more electors tried to defect from Clinton than from Trump.) But the nature of this yr's campaign, and post-election season, fabricated what seemed like it could be a dense topic far more lively than anyone expected in September.

"We picked information technology because of the election," says Judge Midge Rendell, who founded the Middle in 2022 to jump commencement civics didactics in schools. "But we didn't realize at the time how relevant it really would be. Information technology'south complicated—but the kids really figured it out."

It was the winning squad that captured a nuance that would change our organization just plenty to remain fair to both rural states and individual voters. At Haverford's Chesnutwold Elementary, Natascha Doeller's form argued to go on the Electoral College—only to amend it, so votes are allotted through "proportional representation," in which a candidate receives a number of Electoral Higher votes proportional to the number of popular votes in each country.

Afterward six weeks of research, word, debate, and writing, 60 percent of the 120 schools that submitted essays said the Electoral College should remain, as it ensures even smaller, rural states get a say in who leads the states. (Of the top 10, but 2 schools advocated for a popular vote winner.)

Only it was the winning team that captured a nuance that would change our system but enough to remain fair to both rural states and individual voters. At Haverford's Chesnutwold Elementary, Natascha Doeller'due south course argued to keep the Balloter College—merely to amend it, so votes are allotted through "proportional representation," in which a candidate receives a number of Electoral Higher votes proportional to the number of pop votes in each country.

Here'southward how they explain information technology in their winning entry:

"'Winner takes it all' is not only a lyric from a popular song or the mantra of some avid sports fans, it is the organization under which the Electoral College functions. Currently if a candidate wins the popular vote in a specific country, they receive all of the balloter votes from that land. So if one candidate receives only i more popular vote than the other candidate, that first candidate receives all of the electoral votes. This is the i aspect of the Electoral College that we believe needs to exist inverse. Electoral votes should exist assigned by proportional representation. This makes information technology possible for all the candidates to receive electoral votes. Nebraska and Maine apply this system and so should the residuum of the 48 states."

The essay contest is office of the Rendell Eye'due south mission to boost civics teaching in schools both locally and nationally. Every year, the Center runs literary mock trials, in which a grapheme—say the Big Bad Wolf—is put on trial, to teach nearly how our court system works. (Approximate Rendell often serves as a approximate in these trials.) Information technology offers civics curriculum help to schools around the metropolis, and holds an annual civics grooming session for teachers over the summer. Graduate Hospital's Eastward.Grand. Stanton is a airplane pilot school, where the Center tests out unlike ways of imparting knowledge about American civics to students. It's all part of an effort to recapture a slice of American education that has been lost—understanding our political and legal process—at the same fourth dimension as participation in the electoral process has steadily declined.

This is the fourth year of the essay contest, which e'er focuses on some attribute of the Constitution. (The questions are sent out in September, on Constitution Day.) Previous years looked at whether Presidents should be native-built-in; how to raise voter turnout; and the Fourth Amendment'south search and seizure laws. Rendell Eye Executive Director Beth Specker said this year's participation was slightly lower than in the past, she thinks because of the complicated nature of the question. The runners-upward this year were Glenwood Elementary School in Media; S Philly's Eliza B. Kirkbride Schoolhouse; and Abington's McKinley Uncomplicated. The top x teams all receive a civic library for their schoolhouse, with books and lessons.

They also all presented their cases to a panel that consisted of Gov. and Guess Rendell; Constitution Center President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen; and Committee of Seventy's David Thornburgh. To a standing-room only crowd, they presented skits and explanations, and so answered questions from the panel. The governor asked Doeller's students almost this year's ballot, in which proportional representation would have meant neither candidate got the required 270 Electoral College votes. Their answer: Change the Constitution and then a simple bulk wins.

Doeller, a 17-twelvemonth Haverford School District Teacher, says their proposal came out of a stalemate: "A lilliputian over twenty of the students wanted to get rid of the Electoral College," she says. "It was like 12 angry men in the courtroom with the others. I told them nosotros needed either to convince each other to shift their view, or to compromise."

Approximate Rendell says the contest'southward judges considered both the essay and the presentation when deciding on a winner. This year, information technology was hard to choose. "I know more almost the balloter college now than before I did because of these kids," she says. They announced the three finalists in front of a standing room only crowd of parents, students and teachers at the Constitution Centre. Doeller, who has entered and placed in the top 3 all iv years, won for the second year in a row. She says her students will vote on how to spend their $ane,000 prize money for the school.

"Whether or not they're in the top x, or win, the conversation, and problem-based, real-life learning is so valuable to these kids," Doeller says. "This is an immense undertaking every yr. It is also my favorite thing I do every twelvemonth."

Read the winning essay here.

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Source: https://thephiladelphiacitizen.org/abolish-the-electoral-college-rendell-center/

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