With the upcoming election, the Electoral College could play a large role in determining who will serve as the next president. Understanding this process will be crucial to following election results.

Junior Zahra Wiedmann has covered the Electoral College in their Government and Citizenship class and described the process as “a system in which votes are counted based on region as well as population density.” They explained that it was originally implemented to give “minority rights over majority rights,” in this case, elevating the votes of rural communities. In the modern era, however, Wiedmann doesn’t see the system as very effective.

Like Wiedmann, senior Veronica Dixon does not approve of the Electoral College because she believes the minimum of three electoral votes gives states with smaller populations a larger sway. “I do believe that elections and voting are supposed to be a way for the general [public’s voices] … to be expressed,” she said. “And I do think the Electoral College sort of defeats the purpose of that, because … you do see people winning that did not win popular vote. And I do believe that the person who won popular vote should win.”

Wiedmann believes that the Electoral College’s associations with other foundational features of the U.S., such as the Constitution, has contributed to its use in the present day. Similarly, Dixon thinks that the lack of strong opposition to the Electoral College has prevented its replacement. “I think part of the reason that it still exists is just because there isn’t a big enough push and a big enough public concern maybe about removing it,” Dixon said.

At the same time, as Dixon prepares to vote on Nov. 5, she explained that changing the Electoral College is not her first priority right now. “I don’t have a ton of faith in the current, general way that our system is built, in reconstructing based on the way that people would like it to be,” she said, “Because I feel like, if we’re going to be changing something, honestly, the Electoral College is like, maybe not at the top of my list.”