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Vocapedia > USA > Politics > Presidential elections

 

popular vote vs. electoral college

 

 

 

 

Clay Bennett

political cartoon

GoComics

November 27, 2016

http://www.gocomics.com/claybennett/2016/11/27

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why Do We Still Have The Electoral College?

NPR    1 November 2020

 

 

 

 

Why Do We Still Have The Electoral College?

Video        Throughline | NPR        1 November 2020

 

What is it, why do we have it, and why hasn't it changed?

Born from a rushed, fraught, imperfect process,

the origins and evolution of the Electoral College

might surprise you and make you think differently

about not only this upcoming presidential election,

but our democracy as a whole.

YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGImf3Ur6sc

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How does the US electoral college work?

US Elections 2016

G    31 October 2016

 

 

 

 

How does the US electoral college work? | US Elections 2016

Video        The Guardian        31 October 2016

 

The harrowing election season is almost over,

and while it may not be rigged as Donald Trump claims,

US elections aren’t decided by the popular vote alone.

 

YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4bttGCd8_k

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

USA > What is the Electoral College?        UK / USA

 

the Electoral College, not the popular vote,

actually elects the president of the United States.

 

There are 538 members of the Electoral College,

allotted to each of the 50 states

and the District of Columbia.

 

Two hundred seventy votes

are needed to win the election.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/07/us-usa-campaign-electoral-idUSBRE8A604B20121107

 

 

https://www.archives.gov/electoral-college/about

 

https://www.archives.gov/electoral-college

 

https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2024/oct/18/
us-election-extra-the-path-to-power-
understanding-the-electoral-college

 

https://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUKTRE49U14I
20081031
?virtualBrandChannel=10112

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why Do We Still Have The Electoral College?

Throughline | NPR - video - 1 November 2020

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGImf3Ur6sc

 

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=I4bttGCd8_k - Guardian 31 October 2016

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Electoral Map: Key States        2008

 

http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/
president/whos-ahead/key-states/map.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FACTBOX - How the U.S. Electoral College works

 

http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/11/06/usa-
campaign-electoralcollege-elections-idINDEE8A503V20121106

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Electoral College > NARA > Frequently Asked Questions

 

https://www.archives.gov/electoral-college/faq 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

USA > electoral college        UK / USA

 

2024

 

https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2024/oct/18/
us-election-extra-the-path-to-power-understanding-the-electoral-college

 

 

 

 

2021

 

https://www.npr.org/2021/06/10/
1002594108/a-growing-number-of-critics-raise-alarms-about-the-electoral-college

 

https://www.npr.org/2021/04/26/
983082132/census-to-release-1st-results-that-shift-electoral-college-house-seats

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/08/
opinion/filibuster-electoral-college.html

 

https://www.npr.org/sections/congress-electoral-college-tally-live-updates/2021/01/07/
954380156/here-are-the-republicans-who-objected-to-the-electoral-college-count

 

https://www.npr.org/sections/congress-electoral-college-tally-live-updates/2021/01/06/
954217307/mcconnell-says-senate-will-not-be-intimidated-will-complete-electoral-vote-count

 

 

 

 

2020

 

https://www.npr.org/2020/12/08/
942288226/bidens-victory-cemented-as-states-reach-deadline-for-certifying-vote-tallies

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/03/
us/samuel-randall-1876-election.html

 

https://www.gocomics.com/robrogers/2020/11/05

 

https://www.gocomics.com/laloalcaraz/2020/11/05

 

https://www.gocomics.com/claybennett/2020/11/04

 

https://www.npr.org/2020/09/30/
918717270/the-electoral-college

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/08/
opinion/electoral-college-trump-biden.html

 

https://www.npr.org/2020/07/11/
889228004/hamilton-in-fiction-and-history-is-key-to-understanding-the-electoral-college

 

 

 

 

2019

 

https://www.npr.org/2019/03/22/
705627996/abolishing-the-electoral-college-would-be-more-complicated-than-it-may-seem

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/22/
upshot/electoral-college-votes-states.html

 

 

 

 

2016

 

http://www.gocomics.com/claybennett/2016/12/20

 

http://www.gocomics.com/mattdavies/2016/12/20

 

http://www.gocomics.com/tomtoles/2016/12/20

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/19/
upshot/why-trump-had-an-edge-in-the-electoral-college.html

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/19/
opinion/time-to-end-the-electoral-college.html

 

http://www.npr.org/2016/12/19/
506188169/donald-trump-poised-to-secure-electoral-college-win-with-few-surprises

 

http://www.npr.org/2016/12/19/
505767400/5-things-you-should-know-about-the-electoral-college

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/18/us/
politics/the-electoral-college-meets-monday-heres-what-to-expect.html

 

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/12/18/us/
elections/donald-trump-electoral-college-popular-vote.html

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/05/
opinion/why-i-will-not-cast-my-electoral-vote-for-donald-trump.html

 

http://www.npr.org/2016/11/26/
503170280/charts-is-the-electoral-college-dragging-down-voter-turnout-in-your-state

 

http://www.gocomics.com/claybennett/2016/11/27

 

http://www.npr.org/2016/11/25/
503374202/clintons-popular-vote-lead-is-now-over-2-million-but-dont-expect-big-changes

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/11/us/
politics/the-electoral-college-is-hated-by-many-so-why-does-it-endure.html

 

http://www.nytimes.com/video/us/
politics/100000004757868/the-electoral-college-explained.html

 

http://www.npr.org/2016/11/06/
500660424/how-the-electoral-college-works-and-why-you-don-t-want-to-think-about-it

 

 

 

 

2012

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/16/
opinion/the-tarnish-of-the-electoral-college.html

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/03/
opinion/electoral-college-101.html

 

https://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/
idUKTRE49U14I20081031?virtualBrandChannel=10112
- October 31, 2008

 

 

 

 

2008

 

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/michaeltomasky/2008/oct/18/
pennsylvania-newmexico  

 

 

 

 

2007

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/oct/04/us
elections2008.usa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

electoral votes

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/03/
us/samuel-randall-1876-election.html

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/05/
opinion/why-i-will-not-cast-my-electoral-vote-for-donald-trump.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Electoral votes by state in Tuesday's election        2008

 

https://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUKTRE4A317H
20081104?virtualBrandChannel=10112

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Presidential Electors

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

battleground states > Pennsylvania > 20 electoral votes

 

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/11/07/
us/elections/pennsylvania-counties-battleground-state.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

U.S. Senate > electoral college count

 

https://www.npr.org/sections/congress-electoral-college-tally-live-updates/2021/01/06/
954217307/mcconnell-says-senate-will-not-be-intimidated-will-complete-electoral-vote-count

 

https://www.npr.org/sections/congress-electoral-college-tally-live-updates/2021/01/07/
954380156/here-are-the-republicans-who-objected-to-the-electoral-college-count

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

win in the electoral college

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

USA > scrap the winner-takes-all electoral college system        UK

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/oct/28/us
elections2004.usa
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

electoral college defeat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

contested election

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/03/
us/samuel-randall-1876-election.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

popular vote

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/03/
us/samuel-randall-1876-election.html

 

http://www.npr.org/2016/11/22/
503052632/two-weeks-after-election-day-california-continues-counting-ballots

 

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/11/09/
501393501/shades-of-2000-clinton-surpasses-trump-in-popular-vote-tally

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Corpus of news articles

 

USA > Politics > Presidential elections

 

Popular vote vs. electoral college

 

 

 

The Tarnish of the Electoral College

 

November 15, 2012

The New York Times

 

From the late-1960s through the ’80s, Republicans were convinced that they had a permanent lock on the Electoral College. The Sun Belt was rising, traditionally Democratic states were losing population, and Republicans won five of six presidential elections beginning in 1968. Democrats complained that this archaic system was a terrible and undemocratic way to choose the country’s executive. They were right, but they were ignored.

Now the demographic pendulum is swinging toward the Democrats. Young voters, Hispanics and a more active African-American electorate added states like Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado and Virginia to President Obama’s winning coalition in the past two elections, and suddenly Republicans are the ones complaining about a broken system.

They’re right, too, just as the Democrats were a generation ago. The Electoral College remains a deeply defective political mechanism no matter whom it benefits, and it needs to be abolished.

We say that in full knowledge that the college may be tilting toward the kinds of candidates we tend to support and provided a far more decisive margin for Mr. Obama earlier this month than his showing in the popular vote. The idea that a voting method might convey benefits to one side or another, in fact, is one of the strongest arguments against it.

There should be no structural bias in the presidential election system, even if population swings might oscillate over a long period of decades. If Democrats win a string of elections, it should be because their policies and their candidates appeal to a majority of the country’s voters, not because supporters are clustered in enough states to get to 270 electoral votes. Republicans should broaden their base beyond a shrinking proportion of white voters not simply to win back Colorado, but because a more centrist outlook would be good for the country.

The problems with the Electoral College — born in appeasement to slave states — have been on display for two centuries; this page called it a “cumbrous and useless piece of old governmental machinery” in 1936, when Alf Landon won 36 percent of the popular vote against Franklin Roosevelt but received only 8 of the 538 electoral votes.

But 76 years later, the system continues to calcify American politics. As Adam Liptak of The Times recently wrote, this year’s candidates campaigned in only 10 states after the conventions, ignoring the Democratic states on the West Coast and Northeast and the Republican ones in the South and the Plains. The number of battleground states is shrinking, and turnout in the other states is lower. The undemocratic prospect of a president who loses the popular vote is always present (it’s happened three times), as is the potential horror show of a tie vote that is decided in Congress.

The last serious consideration of a constitutional amendment to abolish the college, in 1970, was filibustered by senators from small states who feared losing their disproportionate clout. The same thing would probably happen today, even though Republicans (who tend to dominate those states) are increasingly skeptical of the college.

The best method of moving toward direct democracy remains the National Popular Vote plan, under which states agree to grant their electoral votes to the ticket that gets the most popular votes around the country. Legislators in eight states and the District of Columbia (representing 132 electoral votes) have agreed to do so; the plan would go into effect when states totaling 270 electoral votes sign up.

Until then, new generations of voters will continue to find themselves appalled by the system left to them by their populist-fearing ancestors. An 18-year-old voter in California and one in Oklahoma will have much in common when they realize they are each being ignored, and when they realize there is something their lawmakers can do about it.

The Tarnish of the Electoral College,
NYT, 15.11.2012,
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/16/
opinion/the-tarnish-of-the-electoral-college.html

 

 

 

 

 

FACTBOX -

How the U.S. Electoral College works

 

Tue Nov 6, 2012

12:52pm IST

Reuters

 

REUTERS - The U.S. Electoral College was established in the Constitution as a compromise between electing a president by a vote in Congress and by popular vote of citizens. Here are some facts about the Electoral College:

* The Electoral College, which is not a place but a process, consists of 538 electors. To win the presidency, a candidate must win at least 270 electors.

* The number of electors equals the number of lawmakers in Congress - 435 in the House of Representatives and 100 in the Senate, plus three for the District of Columbia. Each state's allotment of electors equals its number of representatives in the House plus one for each of its two senators.

* Most states have a winner-take-all system for awarding electors. The presidential candidate who wins the popular vote in the state gets all of the state's electors. Maine and Nebraska have a variation of "proportional representation" that can result in a split of their electors between the candidates.

* Critics say the Electoral College does not meet the original intent because a candidate can lose the nationwide popular vote and still win the election by winning the right combination of states. That happened most recently in the controversial election of 2000 when Democrat Al Gore got the most votes but Republican George W. Bush won the presidency. Republicans Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876 and Benjamin Harrison in 1888 also won in the Electoral College despite losing the popular vote.

* There is no constitutional requirement that electors vote according to the results of the popular vote, although some states require it.

* The electors meet in their states in December and cast their votes for president and vice president.

* If no presidential candidate reaches 270 electoral votes, the election goes to the House of Representatives, with each state having one vote.

The House has decided two presidential elections - that of Thomas Jefferson in 1800 and John Quincy Adams in 1824.

The Senate would elect the vice president, with each senator casting one vote. That raises the possibility of a president and vice president from different parties.

* The biggest Electoral College prizes are California, with 55; Texas, with 38; and New York and Florida, each with 29. California and New York are considered reliably Democratic, Texas reliably Republican and Florida is a battleground state that could go either way.

* Among the other important swing states this year, Ohio has 18 votes, Virginia 13, Wisconsin 10, Colorado 9, Nevada 6, Iowa 6 and New Hampshire 4.

* The system explains why candidates tend to spend a disproportionate amount of time and money on trying to secure the battleground states. It also means that what appears to be a tight race in national opinion polls may be less close when viewed state by state.

SOURCES: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Reuters.

 

(Editing by Jim Loney and Peter Cooney)

FACTBOX - How the U.S. Electoral College works,
NYT, 6.11.2012,
http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/11/06/
usa-campaign-electoralcollege-elections-idINDEE8A503V20121106

 

 

 

 

 

FACTBOX:

Electoral votes by state

in Tuesday's election

 

Tue Nov 4, 2008

1:36am EST

Reuters

 

(Reuters) - Following is a summary of electoral votes allocated to each state and the District of Columbia for Tuesday's U.S. presidential election.

A candidate must get 270 electoral votes out of a possible 538 to win.

 

State/Electoral votes

Alabama 9

Alaska 3

Arizona 10

Arkansas 6

California 55

Colorado 9

Connecticut 7

Delaware 3

District of Columbia 3

Florida 27

Georgia 15

Hawaii 4

Idaho 4

Illinois 21

Indiana 11

Iowa 7

Kansas 6

Kentucky 8

Louisiana 9

Maine 4

Maryland 10

Massachusetts 12

Michigan 17

Minnesota 10

Mississippi 6

Missouri 11

Montana 3

Nebraska 5

Nevada 5

New Hampshire 4

New Jersey 15

New Mexico 5

New York 31

North Carolina 15

North Dakota 3

Ohio 20

Oklahoma 7

Oregon 7

Pennsylvania 21

Rhode Island 4

South Carolina 8

South Dakota 3

Tennessee 11

Texas 34

Utah 5

Vermont 3

Virginia 13

Washington 11

West Virginia 5

Wisconsin 10

Wyoming 3
 


(Reporting by Washington newsroom;

Editing by Stacey Joyce)

FACTBOX: Electoral votes by state in Tuesday's election,
NYT,
4.11.2008,
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUKTRE4A317H20081104?virtualBrandChannel=10112

 

 

 

 

 

FACTBOX:

Electoral College elects president

 

Fri Oct 31, 2008

1:31am EDT

Reuters

 

(Reuters) - The Electoral College, not the popular vote, actually elects the president of the United States. Here are some facts about the Electoral College:

* There are 538 members of the Electoral College, allotted to each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on their representation in the U.S. Congress. The smallest states have three members while the largest state, California, has 55. Washington, D.C., which has no voting representation in Congress, has three, the same as the smallest state.

* It takes 270 votes to win election. The electors are pledged to one candidate or the other but there is no federal law requiring them to vote that way. There have been several incidents in which so-called faithless electors have voted for someone other than the candidate to whom they were pledged.

* In 48 states and the district, the candidate who wins the popular vote wins all of the state's electors. Nebraska and Maine have a proportional system of awarding electors.

* Electors, who are picked by the respective political parties, make two selections -- for president and for vice president. They may not vote for two candidates from their own state.

* Because a candidate could run up a big vote count in some states but lose others by narrow margins, the winner of the popular vote might not have the most electoral votes. The Electoral College has three times picked the candidate who lost the popular vote -- Republicans Rutherford Hayes in 1876, Benjamin Harrison in 1888 and George W. Bush in 2000.

* The Electoral College meets in each state to cast its votes on a Monday early in December following the November popular election. The votes are then tallied in a joint session of Congress on January 6 of the following year.

* If no candidate receives a majority of the electoral votes, the House of Representatives chooses among the top three candidates with each state having only one vote. If no vice presidential candidate receives a majority, the Senate decides between the top two candidates.

* The House has twice decided the outcome of the presidential race -- in the 1800 and 1824 elections. The Senate decided the vice presidency once, in the 1836 election.

* This unique system was the result of a compromise by the writers of the U.S. Constitution in the 18th century between those who wanted direct popular election and those who wanted state legislatures to decide. One fear was that at a time before political parties, the popular vote would be diluted by voting for an unwieldy amount of candidates.



(Writing by David Wiessler in Washington;

editing by David Alexander)

FACTBOX: Electoral College elects president,
R,
31.10.2008,
https://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/
idUKTRE49U14I20081031?virtualBrandChannel=10112

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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