electoral college Flashcards
what is the electoral college vote
After citixens vote for presidential candidate on election day, the votes are counted and the candidate with the most votes in a state gets the electors of that state. Those electors hold a vote during the electoral college vote in December. The electors in each state vote for whoever won their state
what principle does the electoral college vote work on
Winner takes all principle
example of winnner takes all - georgia 2020
Biden won 49.5% of the votes
Trump won 49.2% of the votes, despite how close it was biden got all of georgia’s 16 electors
how many electors do you need to win
270
complications of the electorial college - small states
Not all states have the same number of electors. Big states have more electors. However, small states are overrepresented!
A voter in Wyoming has 3 times as much influnces as a voter in California - this is undemocratic, in a democracy all vote should count equally, but due to the electoral college, small states have a disproportionate effect on the outcome of presidential elections. Not all votes count equally
complication - electors
Electors are not just numbers: they are actual people, meeting in December – undemocratic
That means the possibility of ‘rogue electors’ or
‘faithless electors’: electors who vote not how their state’s voters have voted, but following their own views or conscience. 7 rogue electors in 2016
problem with the EC - winner takes all
Winner-takes-all means that you can become president with fewer popular votes than your opponent. It doesn’t matter by how much you win a state, as long as you win it. eg - This happened twice in the last 20 years - 2 of the last 6 elections produced a democratically
questionable result!
example winner takes all - bush v gore
Bush v Gore - Bush 48.85% of votes in florida, Al Gore - 48.84% of votes in florida. Bush got all 25 electors - difference in actual votes was only 537.
example of winner takes all - Clinton V Trump
Clinton won 48.0% of the popular vote, trump won 45.9% of the popular vote. Trump won because he got 304 EC votes while clinton got 227
problem - minor parties
Unfair to smaller (third) parties, similar to FPTP. You only get electors by winning states
Rose perot in 1992 won 18.9% of the votes and no single electoral college vote
good things about EC - unsuitable candidate
It can stop an unqualified or otherwise
unsuitable candidate becoming president. The
founding fathers chose the system to avoid
uneducated, easily influenced, ordinary people
selecting an unsuitable, unqualified president.
good things - small states
It protects the influence of small states. Without the electoral college they might be ignored. Allows voter there to gain attention that would have gone to bigger states. In 2016, 94% of the presidential campaign were in 12 states, most of which were small notably pennslyvania which recieved 54 visits. Those states are considered battlegroung states or swing states, they dont have one party they very cleary vote for which makes them particurlarly influential in deciding the outcome of an election, unlike states like Cali or Alabama who are clearly blue and red. The presence of the electoral college makes their characteristic as swing states even more influential
good things - minor disadvantages
The disadvantages are in practice minor and
rare – The electoral college doesn’t often change the outcome. It accurately reflects the will of the people most of the time. rouge electors only happened 3 times - 2000, 2004 and 2016. the rouge electors combined for those years were just 9. 1 in 2000, 1 in 2004 which was a mistake and 7 in 2016
counter argument - rouge electors
the fact that the electoral college provides an opportunity for there to be rouge electors is undemocratic and enough reason to get rid of it.
