Electoral College
When you cast your vote for President, you are actually voting for a group of people known as electors. They are part of the Electoral College, the process used to elect the U.S. President and Vice President.
The Electoral College serves as a compromise between election of the President by a vote in Congress and election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens.
The process begins when political parties select the people who will serve as electors, The electors meet to vote for President and Vice President, and then Congress counts the electoral votes.
Number of Electors
There are a total of 538 electors. A candidate needs the vote of more than half (270) to win the Presidential election.
- Each state’s number of electors is equal to the number of its U.S. Senators plus the number of its U.S. Representatives. Washington D.C. is given a number of electors equal to the number held by the smallest state. View the division of electors on a map of the U.S.
- In 48 states, when a candidate receives the majority of votes, he or she receives all of the state’s electoral votes.
- Maine and Nebraska are the only two states that use the congressional district method.
- For example: Nebraska has five electoral votes (one for each of the three congressional districts plus two for the state’s senate seats). The winner of each district is awarded one electoral vote, and the winner of the statewide vote is then awarded the state’s remaining two electoral votes.
- U.S. territories are not represented in the Electoral College.
It is possible for a candidate to receive the majority of the popular vote, but not of the electoral vote, and lose the Presidential election.
- For example: If the United States had only three states each with a population of 100, each state would have three electoral votes (2 Senators plus one House of Representatives member) so a candidate would need 5 electoral votes to win the election.
- Candidate 1 wins the first two states by receiving 51 votes per state and loses the third state by receiving just one vote. This gives them a total of 103 popular votes from all three states (51 + 51 + 1). And this translates into a total of six electoral votes--three each from the states the candidate won and none from the state the candidate lost.
- Candidate 2 loses the first two states by receiving 49 votes per state and wins the third state by receiving 99 votes. This gives them a total of 197 popular votes from all three states (49 + 49 + 99). And this translates into a total of three electoral votes--none from the two states the candidate lost and three from the state the candidate won. Because electoral votes are what count in the end, even though Candidate 2 won the popular vote, they lost the electoral vote and therefore lose the election.
What Happens if No Candidate Gets 270 Electoral Votes?
If no candidate receives the required majority of votes, the House of Representatives elects the President from the three candidates who received the most electoral votes, and the Senate elects the Vice President from the two vice presidential candidates who received the most electoral votes.
How to Change the Electoral College
Because the Electoral College process is part of the U.S. Constitution, it would be necessary to pass a Constitutional amendment to change this system. For more information, contact your U.S. Senator or your U.S. Representative.
credit: https://www.usa.gov/election
I think that the electoral college has good things and bad things about it. It obviously works because we've been using this system since the constitution, and we've had some pretty good presidents. I do think that the number of the electoral votes should change, though. If we could change the number to an odd number, there would never be a tie, and Congress wouldn't ever have to decide. I think that congress deciding kind of defeats the purpose of the people voting for a president. Even though Congress has never had to do this before, it still seems like a pretty easy thing to fix. I also wonder why we even have electoral college? Wouldn't it be much more fair to just count the votes of the people directly? I'm sure there's a logical explanation for it but letting representatives decided based on what we say seems like another way for the people to not get a say
ReplyDeleteI think that The Electoral College has good and bad reasons. I think it could be fair if the candidates didn't get enough votes that the House of Represenatives could decide. And for a candidate to get 270 votes or more, I'm sure that could be a logical explanation. I do think it is very reasonable to change the number of votes because logically the candidate could still have more votes after the third state approves on him/her and get 99 votes from that state, even if the first two didn't approve. And I think the people should be involves in voting, as well as representatives.
ReplyDeleteI think it is fair system, except when some electors vote freely. They should have to represent the people who put them in that position.
ReplyDeletei agree with Evan because, if somebody put us in this position then we need to let people no who did
DeleteI don't like the Electoral College because I don't think it's fair. I would rather go with the popular vote. Right now it seems like a person's vote doesn't really count because all it is, is a suggestion to the Electoral College on how you want them to vote. A lot of the Electoral College are not required to vote the way the voters ask them to. I think the majority vote should rule. Everyone's vote gets counted anyway, why not go with the popular vote.
ReplyDeleteI think that the electoral college is a good thing because then the electors are forced to choose somebody in favor of the people. I also think that there is bad things about it too. One bad thing could be that the electors could rebel.
ReplyDeletei think the electoral college is good and bad. the good thing about it is that you can choose to vote whoever you like. but the bad thing is that you are forced to vote. people should have the right not to vote if they dont want to.
ReplyDeleteI don't like the Electoral College. It just seems like a system that takes the popular vote and represents it in a smaller number (to make things easier). The system works but I personally think that it makes things more complicated for no reason, and that the people's votes should be the final votes.
ReplyDeleteI think the Electoral College is good the way it is, it could be better but it works. I think that the electors being able to change their vote is okay but I don't know if i really like it. if the electors had to vote for the popular vote in their state it would keep it fair and unbiased. however it does add some mystery and chance to the election.
ReplyDeleteI think the electoral college is good, but it needs a few changes. I don't think there should be all or nothing states.
ReplyDeleteI also think the electors should HAVE to vote for the electors their state votes for.
I agree with Elijah that it has its faults and needs some changes. I do think that electors of a state should have to vote for the one he is assigned to in order to be reelected the Electoral college for another term. If a elector does not vote for the popular vote of his state then I feel sorry for him cause he wont have a job after that election for he voted on what the people wanted least! So the Electoral College I think is a good thing but, yes it does need some changes.
ReplyDeleteI don't like the electoral college because it doesn't represent the people in the best possible way. And when the electors are 'unfaithful,' it completely removes the reason of voting from the people of that state and could change the whole outcome of the election.
ReplyDeleteI think America should change to the Congressional district style. This breaks down the states into districts voting. In 2012, Mitt Romney would have won the election by this system. For example, Seattle is the huge majority of Washington's liberal Democrat votes. Therefore, Clinton would win Seattle's district, but since the rest of Washington is mostly Republican, the other districts would go to Trump. This would mean that some states are dominated by small areas, making every vote count. I think it's a compelling system and I'd like to see how it works out. If not that, second choice would be popular vote. Just not the electoral college.