Do you believe the American public should elect a
president directly by popular vote or indirectly through the
electoral college? Viral Parekh
Second-year Business Economics "I learned electors don’t have to
vote for the same person the voters choose. The electors are there
as representatives of the public’s choice. When it comes down to
making the decision and when the election is very close, electors
can still change what side they’re voting on. This defeats the
purpose of the electoral college. I don’t understand why they don’t
just use the popular vote." Renee Pratt
First-year
Undeclared "Choosing candidates through the electoral vote
process is good because members of the electoral college are
qualified to choose leaders, as opposed to people who decide to
vote based on whether the candidate’s name sounds good. People pay
too much attention to ads and commercials bringing out the bad
qualities in the candidates and they let this affect their
decision." Rochelle Amuro Second-year Psychology
"I think the electoral college is a pointless and outdated way to
choose the president. The government doesn’t want to change it
because they don’t want to stray from tradition. If I had the power
I would kill it. I think it’s unfair that a candidate can win the
popular vote but lose the electoral vote." Natalia
Naduris-Weissman Third-year African American studies and
political science "The electoral college is not at all
representative of the public. It’s really important to get rid of
it. We’re supposed to be a democracy, not a republic. I’m already
very angry as it is with this election. I would support an
initiative to remove it." Punam Patel First-year
Physiological science "Having an electoral college is very
important. Elections should not be direct at all. Unlike a system
by popular vote, the electoral college system is prepared to choose
qualified candidates for president. Even though Gore or Bush may
win the popular vote and lose the electoral vote, I still think the
electoral process is important." Mark Levy
Second-year Mechanical engineering and political science "I don’t
think the electoral college serves much of a purpose anymore
because none of the electors are going to vote against what the
constituency voted for. The American public is capable of voting
for a qualified president, but the system works as it’s currently
run, so I’m pretty happy with it." Speaks Out compiled by
Cuauhtemoc Ortega, Daily Bruin Senior Staff. Photos by Mary Holsher
and Andrea Kim, Daily Bruin Contributors.