So we we went to the polls today to reelect our current, or elect a brand new, President of the United States, right?
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| Credit: usnews.com |
No, we did not! We have this thing in the U.S. called the Electoral College (a process, not a place). It was established by the founding fathers in the U.S. Constitution 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.
So we went to the polls today to select ELECTORS, who will in turn meet (state by state) to vote for the President and Vice President. The electoral votes of each state are then sent to be counted by Congress. Then and only then is the "official" winner declared.
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| Credit: wikipedia.com Ignore the Obama/Romney color code, as this map didn't translate to the blog with color. The number of electors each state house is determined by population/representation in Congress. |
Of course, we will know soon (we hope) which candidate received the most Electoral votes, thanks to the news media tally, but it won't be official until January.
State Electors are generally chosen by the candidate's political party, and are committed to remain loyal. But there have been cases in the past when they have not.
Most states require Electors to vote according to the results of the popular vote in their states. Most states have a “winner-take-all” system that awards all electors to the top "vote-getter" in that state.
Are you still with me?
The odd thing about this system is that a candidate could win the popular vote but loose the election because the other candidate captured the majority of the Electoral vote. It has happened before.
For instance, in 2000, George W. Bush won the Electoral College vote following the recount in Florida. But Al Gore received more popular votes — about 540,000 more than Bush nationally but Bush got more Electoral votes.
So what are the advantages of the Electoral College and why do we keep it?
I searched around for further explanation of the pros and cons of the Electoral system of electing the President, and the most understandable one I found is
The Prodigal. This guy explains it better than I can. Go read it and you will find the pro and con arguments for keeping/dismantling it.
Is it any wonder that people around the world -- make that even people here in the U.S. -- find our political system so confusing??
What are your thoughts?
Doesn't make sense to me ! Its almost like its not that important that we vote, the way its determined.. Oh well, I always vote, make my voice heard ! Go vote everyone !! Great article Samps ..
ReplyDeleteDarry
One of those odd things that's been around since the beginning. Thanks, Darry!
DeleteSounds very complicated to me,will have to re-read it to get the gist of it.HB will be interested in this.
ReplyDeleteHeard on the radio that Obama is your president again,our PM Cameron sent him his congratulations.Ida
Glad it's over. We hear a discussion every few years about abandoning the electoral college, but it remains in place.
DeleteConfusing,for sure! But not really considering the Electoral allows our Washington government to manipulate the outcome. Electoral was estabulated to allow smaller states, to "have a say". However, if a state's population gives them only 3 "electoral votes", then it doesn't amount to a "hills of beans" anyway in the eyes of the candidates. So, in essence, choosing by electoral vote is just a means of confusing the American people and discourage them from voting at all which, of course, sometimes leads to an unpleasant outcome. What we have in this country is BLOCK VOTING by "groups" whose members go into a "mindless mentality" and let their "group boss" tell them how to vote! So guess who is REALLY running our country? Not we the people!!!
ReplyDeleteSince our country was become so divided between red states/blue states, only the swing states determine who's elected. Wish it were otherwise.
DeleteWhen one Party is the most Popular as Dems in 2008 then the Electoral College is a mute point. Only in close races does it matter and when it makes the Republicans win they insist the EC is a GREAT THING....when the Dems win the EC ii is not so great.....it is just a game of sport with the referees calling the game and we cheer for one team or the other and sometimes we are on the losing team and sometimes the winning!!! It is far more serious than a game though because our President has the power to declare war and the reason we need to have the most level minded person available for the job IMO.
ReplyDeleteThe Electoral College garners more attention when it's a very close tally of those votes in the end, which wasn't the case in this election, although the popular vote was quite close. Do you think it should be "winner takes all" of the electoral votes in each state?
DeleteOur President Niinistö has sent his gratulations to your new President Obama.
ReplyDeleteI send mine to You.
Yes, your system is a complicated one, we had something similar yet in the 70´s, but a change was made to a straight voting system, of which I´m happy.
All needed was the change of The Constitution. Go figure ; )
As Patricia mentions below, all 50 states would have to vote and approve getting rid of the electoral college, which is doubtful it will ever happen. So I guess we are stuck with it!
DeleteI see that Darry called you "Samps" - is that a nickname?
ReplyDeleteI am a fan of the Electoral College because when I am sad about the outcome of the voting, I can console myself with the history of those times that one from the College voted contrary to his state's popular vote. (Just kidding - but maybe I should start thinking that way.)
Samps is a nickname my daddy gave me when I was a very young girl. It stuck within my family. My mother, sister and many of my cousins call me by that name, but no one outside the family does. It's the only nickname I ever had (except one uncle who called me "Freck" because I had freckles as a child).
DeleteI read somewhere that all of the states would have to vote for a change of the Constitution in order for any changes to the electoral college to happen, making it less likely as the less populous ones would be concerned their voices would be muted. I think changing it would be a Big Deal to some. Some of the reasons (meeting every four years would prevent electing a president based on demagoguery was one) seem to not relate to the internet age. But I don't know all the unintended effects of keeping it or changing it as our states are very diverse. If it came to a vote, I would have to research it further.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I would have to study upon the subject carefully before I could make an educated decision on whether it should go or stay. On the surface, it seems superficial and not necessary, plus confusing to many people. But you are right: could be unintended consequences.
DeleteThanks for the info on the electoral college - it's always been confusing and I needed refreshing on it. Like you, just glad it's over for a little while. BUT, it will start again in probably a year on predictions for the next nominees for each party.
ReplyDelete