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The Electoral College is a system used to determine the President and Vice President of the United States. Its primary function is to ensure that citizens from all states are represented equally in electing federal officials, but it has sparked debate around its efficiency and efficacy. The main argument in favor of the Electoral College is that it gives smaller states a stronger say in determining who wins an election since they have fewer electoral votes than larger states. Supporters argue that without this system, candidates would only focus their efforts on populous cities, thus ignoring rural areas with potentially different political opinions (Clayton & Pasour 2017). Additionally, some suggest that because each state’s electors must meet together to cast their vote simultaneously, this creates an additional layer of protection against potential manipulation or fraud (Ginsberg & Lowenstein 2001). Thus, proponents claim that while not perfect, the Electoral College does serve its purpose of maintaining fairness in elections. On the other hand, there are several criticisms surrounding the use of the Electoral College. One major issue relates to how a candidate can win an election despite losing the popular vote due to having more electors from certain states (Bell 2016). This has happened multiple times over history and undermines faith in American democracy as many view it as unfair and outdated when compared with systems such as parliamentary democracies which directly elect leaders based on popular support (Newell & Zeckhauser 2008). Furthermore, because all electors must be agreed upon by parties prior to each election cycle there is no guarantee that they will actually reflect voter opinion once elected (Bolton et al., 2009) creating further frustration among those who feel disenfranchised by this system.