Every 4 years, calls are repeated calling for the necessity of ending the electoral college system (the electoral college consists of 538 members, and winning requires obtaining a minimum of 270 votes) as a unique method for choosing the new American president, and no other country in the world follows such a system, and these multiply Invitations following any election in which the winning presidential candidate obtains a minority of popular votes.

And back to the end of the 18th century, specifically to the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1787, when the delegates of the Constitutional Conference met to discuss the balance of the presidential election process in the interests of both small and large states, and to ensure that the elected president was granted independence from Congress, and the president was chosen by informed voters. Representing the diverse interests of the various states, there was no better solution than the "Electoral College System".

The debate about the future of the electoral college system intensified after the 2016 elections, which President Donald Trump won with 62.9 million votes, which is less than Hillary Clinton's 3 million votes, with 65.8 million votes.

However, Trump won the majority of the electoral college votes, obtaining 302 votes, compared to 232 for Clinton, who did not contest the final results.

During the history of the United States, 5 presidents won the presidency despite not obtaining the majority of the popular vote;

However, they won the majority of the electoral college votes.

Nevertheless, the electoral college system is seen as a crucial part of the basic checks and balances of the American political system, and it cannot be abandoned for some of the most important reasons:

American Federation

The main argument for preserving the electoral college is that it is an integral part of the federal philosophy upon which the American state is founded. Federalism means the distribution of powers between the federal government, the 50 state governments and local governments, rather than a strong central government, and the electoral college allows states, small and large, to play a role. Important in choosing the members of the electoral college on the basis of the popular vote for each state, as this system would transcend all the divisions that the American Union has brought together, whether religious, racial or ethnic.

Preserves everyone's interests

The electoral college system escaped from all the internal conflicts and civil wars that the United States has gone through throughout its history, mainly because of the desire to represent the interests of the states and protect them from any extremism, whether at the federal level or within any state.

The US Constitution stipulates checks and balances so that the executive, legislative and judicial authorities do not attempt to change the balance between them. From here, everyone clings to it, whether large states such as California, Texas, New York, and small states such as Idaho and North Dakota.

Over recent decades, hundreds of attempts were made in Congress and hundreds of cases were tried in court;

But all efforts failed to change this unique system.

Electoral campaigns at the national level

Supporters of the electoral college system say that it forces candidates to compete at the national level completely, and it is impossible for any president to win depending on the states of one geographic region, such as the American South or the American West.

Without this system, a candidate could win based on the votes of the six most populous states, such as California, Texas, New York, Florida, Illinois and Pennsylvania, and ignore the rest of the union states.

The voters in various regions are reassured that a candidate who only speaks to a small group of states cannot be their new president.

The electoral college system forces candidates and parties to develop their attractiveness nationally by campaigning in heavily contested states across the country, and provides broad influence to small states and ethnic minorities in large states.

Without this system, small states that are represented by only 3 delegates in the electoral college such as Wyoming, Alaska and Montana could be neglected, as any of them could act as a critical voice in presidential elections in which the results are converging.

On the one hand, the electoral college system does not allow for minorities to be ignored, including blacks, Latinos, Asians, and others, as they attract the attention of candidates because they tend to live in large states with a large number of electoral votes.

Clear and decisive results

The United States ’adoption of a popular election system for the president could create chaos, especially if one of the candidates challenges the results, and demands through the judiciary for a recount at the national level.

In the case of the electoral college system, and as happened in the 2000 elections between George Bush and Al Gore, the count was repeated in one state, Florida, and the rest of the states were not affected.

The electoral college system also contributes to decisively determining the winning party in the absence of obtaining a majority of the popular vote, as was the case in the 1968 and 1992 elections, when a strong third candidate was found, and none of the candidates achieved the majority of half the popular vote, and had it not been for the Electoral College, this would raise serious questions. About the legitimacy of the new president.

Thus, the electoral college system guarantees a winning majority for one of the candidates in every election, which spares the United States from heavy constitutional crises;

That is, it is an appropriate solution to the issue of legitimacy, and does not require constitutional amendments or partisan debates.

Avoid shortcomings in the popular vote

The popular election system does not have strong arguments for most constitutional experts, as most Americans consider their country to be essentially a "constitutional republic", not a "democratic state," and advocates of the electoral college system see it as the legitimate son of the presidential elections on the basis of the country's constitutional origins.

This system also provides a solid wall against fraud, as the falsification of small numbers of votes does not affect the final election results, and systematic fraud is prevented by following each state different procedures and methods of voting.

Test 2020

The United States and its electoral system are subject to a historical test this year, especially with the expectation of crises as a result of President Trump's failure to respect the election results, due to his doubts about the method of voting by mail, and the expectation of a delay in the announcement of the final results.