Electoral What? Electoral College!

Many people are confused by the electoral college, many people say they hate the electoral college, and some people don't even know it exists. I, personally like the electoral college. I think that it gets rid of bias and the popularity vote (in a way) and makes the election process easier than people think. This process allows for the selection of the best-qualified candidate.

Many people think that the popular vote doesn't count, but in reality it does. What happens is citizens go out and cast their vote for who they want to be the new President. This vote goes towards a block vote for the electors. Each state has the number of electors equal to the number of congressional representation they have. For example, if California has 20 Congressional Representatives, they receive 20 electors to vote. Once the popular vote is done, the electors then vote for whoever won the majority of their state. For example, if the state has 10 elector votes and the Republican Party candidate wins the majority of their popular vote, then the 10 elector votes will go towards the Republican candidate.

The only states that fit the exception to the "winner take all" vote ideal is Nebraska and Maine. They use the Congressional District Method. Each state divides themselves into a number of district. Each district then is allocated one elector vote. The candidate that wins the popular vote of that district then receives the elector vote for that district. The last two elector votes are then given to the state-wide winner of the previous elector votes. Neither state has split their electoral votes yet, each winner has consistently swept the districts (so this is the same results as the other states).

Once every state has had their electors cast their votes, those votes will be totaled up. There is a total of 538 elector votes in all and a candidate must have over 270 votes to win. If no candidate wins by majority then the decision of President goes to the House of Representatives. Each state receives one vote and an absolute majority is needed to win. The decision of Vice President goes to Senate. Once the winners are decided they will take the oath of office on January 20th of the coming new year.




Here are two political cartoons that mock the electoral college and I find them pretty funny.