Why is there an Electoral College? How it edges out the popular vote

On By Littum

Election Day has arrived in America and with it plenty of fanfare. Last-minute texts from fundraisers, “I Voted” sticker selfies on social media, and — later at night — a whole lot of math.

As the first polls close, a series of numbers will begin to be released from precincts across the country, and pundits will begin trying to decipher what that means for the outcome of the race.

But why is it so complicated? The Electoral College is part of the answer. Instead of a simple nationwide winner-take-all system, the US president is chosen by the Electoral College—a delegate-based process that doesn’t always align with the popular vote.

Here you can see how it works and why we have it.

Why is there an Electoral College?

When America was founded, the framers of the Constitution created the Electoral College as a middle ground between a president chosen by the popular vote or a vote of Congress. That was the point keeping a state with a significant population from having the power to swing the entire election.

The Founding Fathers also feared that relying on the popular vote could help a demagogue rise to power, NPR reports, and some states feared relinquishing power and risking the loss of slavery.

The process is outlined in both Article II of the Constitution and the 12thth Change. For many years, the existence of the Electoral College has been criticized for various reasons, including being exclusionary to third-party candidates and disenfranchising voters in higher population states.. This is reported by the National Archives that more constitutional amendments have been proposed to change the Electoral College than on any other issue.

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How does the electoral college work?

Like much of the American system, the Electoral College is a form of representative democracy. Each state is allocated a certain number of electors equal to the number of members they have in the House of Representatives plus their two senators.

Electors cast their vote for the candidate who won the popular vote in their state, with some exceptions. Nebraska and Maine both allow apportionment of electors in some form of “proportional representation.”

There are 538 total votes in the Electoral College, and a candidate must have 270 to win. While the results of the election are announced with the statewide numbers, the actual Electoral College voting process takes place in mid-December before the president is sworn in in January. In each state, political parties select a slate of electors to represent them in the Electoral College.

Because the process prioritizes winning electoral votes in certain states over an outright majority of the vote, a candidate can sometimes claim victory in the Electoral College even though fewer Americans overall cast a vote for them. This was the case in 2016, 2000 and three times in the 1800s.

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Electoral college card with numbers

Here’s a breakdown of each state’s Electoral College votes plus Washington DC, which has three.

Starring: Fernando Cervantes