Electoral College Flashcards
1
Q
How does the Electoral College work?
A
- Each state is awarded a certain number of Electoral College votes. This number is equal to that state’s representation in Congress - the number of Senators (2 for every state) plus the number of representatives
- Thus in 2012, California had 55 (2+53) while Wyoming had just 3 (2+1) electors
- To win the presidency, a candidate must win an absolute majority, which is 270
2
Q
One strength of the Electoral College
A
- It preserves the voice of the small population states. Despite smaller states like Wyoming having far fewer electors than big states like Florida, smaller states still have a voice somewhat and their votes still do matter to an extent.
3
Q
Another strength of the Electoral College
A
- It tends to promote a two-horse race. In such a two-horse race, the winner will therefore tend to receive more than 50% of the popular vote, a definite aid to uniting the nation.
- However, only three of the last seven elections has that the president won with more than half of the votes
4
Q
How Electoral College votes are worked out
A
- The popular votes for each candidate are counted in each state. In all but two states, whichever candidate wins the most popular votes receives all the Electoral College votes of that state - the so called ‘winner takes all’ rule
- The exceptions to this are Maine and Nebraska
5
Q
One negative of the Electoral College
A
- Small states are over represented. Some view this as a strength, others view it as a weakness.
- By 2016, California had 55 Electoral College votes representing its 39.2 million inhabitants. Wyoming had 3 votes representing its just over half a million inhabitants. Thus California receives one Electoral College vote for ever 713,000 people. Wyoming receives one Electoral College vote for every 195,000 people.
6
Q
Another negative of the Electoral College
A
- Winner take all system distorts the result. In the seven elections between 1992 and 2016, the Electoral College could be said to have seriously distorted the result on five occasions.
- In 1996, Bill Clinton won only 49% of the popular vote, yet he won just over 70% of the Electoral College votes
- In 2016, Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump by 48.2% to 46.1% - winning nearly 3 million more popular votes than Trump. However, Trump still managed a comfortable win in the Electoral College (304 to 227)
7
Q
Another negative of the Electoral College
A
- Unfair to national third parties. In 1992, Independent candidate Ross Perot won 18.9% of the popular vote and got over 19 million votes, yet he did not get a single Electoral College vote.
- In 2000, Green Party candidate Ralph Nader won over 3 million votes and he did not get a single Electoral College vote either.
8
Q
One possible reform of the Electoral College (direct election)
A
- Direct election. Reform the system so that whoever gets the most popular votes wins the presidency
- However, one critique of this reform is it would make it more likely for a president to be elected with below 50% of the popular vote
9
Q
Another possible reform of the Electoral College (congressional district system)
A
- Congressional district system. This proposes the other 48 states to adopt the system used in Maine and Nebraska. This involves awarding one Electoral College vote to a candidate for each Congressional district and two Electoral College votes to the state wide winner
10
Q
Another possible reform of the Electoral College (proportional system)
A
- Proportional system. Another possible reform would be to allocate Electoral College votes in each state proportional to the popular vote in that state. There would then be a more equable allocation of Electoral College votes.
- One critique of this reform would be because it encourages more votes for national third parties, it would make it more likely that no candidate would gain an absolute majority of Electoral College votes
