How it works and why we have an Electoral College

THIS POST WAS A RESPONSE ORIGINALLY ATTACHED TO THIS REPORT:

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Just running my usual fact check here. Despite the lack of regulation on the actual electoral college, it has been and continues to be that the college has voted in conjunction with the popular vote for each state they represent. As such, no state has ever given all of it’s votes to a candidate who did not win the popular vote in that state. There have been, as noted above, irregularities involving various individuals, but the irregularities have never affected an actual election. That said, there have been four presidents elected who won by electoral vote and not the popular vote [overall of the entire USA]. They are John Q. Adams, Rutherford Hayes, Benjamin Harrison and George W. Bush. Most folks don’t understand the electoral system and can be confused by it when things like this happen. So let me simply the process for you:

State A – votes: 50,000 Bush / 49,000 Gore – Bush wins gets 10 Electorals

State B – votes: 20,000 Bush / 19,000 Gore – Bush wins gets 5 electorals

State C – votes: 90,000 Bush / 95,000 Gore – Gore wins gets 14 electorals

Bush wins 2 states = 15 electorals votes…becomes president

Gore wins 1 state = 12 electorals …loses.

Bush has 160,000 popular vote total

Gore has 163,000 popular vote total

The confusion comes into play because some states, due to population are awarded more electoral votes. Votes are based on the number of US Representatives a state has. However, it is not unusual for less than 50% of a state’s population to bother voting. So the discrepancies occur due to people not voting…not that the electoral system somehow cheats.

But each state awards its electoral votes in whole, to whomever wins that state’s popular vote. If only 35% of the registered citizens show up to vote, that does not lower the amount of electoral votes that state gets to cast, nor should it. Those electoral votes are intended to represent the whole of a state’s population.

Why do we use an electoral system? Well to solve problems like with Hurricane Sandy. Lots of people couldn’t get to vote. If a disaster should prohibit half a state’s population, let’s say Florida for instance who carries 29 electoral votes from voting, the lack of popular vote could cost a candidate an election. Popular vote can be upset by many many factors. But by ensuring the entire state is fully represented by an electoral system, that state gets a say in the election based on how many citizens it has…not by how many people bother to go vote in such literal terms. In simpler terms if Florida only has ten people show up at the polls, it, as a whole is still ranking 29 votes for president.

If you don’t want your states electoral votes going to the wrong candidate…GET UP AND GO VOTE. Nobody stops you from voting.  But imagine if some catastrophe hit your state and you couldn’t go vote.  Wouldn’t you still want your state to have the same amount of influence on a Presidential election? Sure you would.  Because President is the only national election, it is the only one using the Electoral system.  All other elected officials come from local sections of states, meaning anything affecting localities would simply postpone the elections.  President is the only position that needs the electoral system.

Hope that clarifies some of how the system works and assures you no one cheated. Obama won both the electoral AND the popular vote in this instance, so the electoral system is not even in question.  And states affected by Sandy were actually slated to vote Obama anyway.  So while many may not like Romney’s defeat, the majority of the population re-elected President Obama.

And as always, I take no sides on arguments.  I only present and standby the facts.  I report only when I see incorrect facts being reported here or out-right disinformation.  It comes from both Red and Blue sides, quite admittedly.