In the United States, the popular vote determines the members of Congress, governors, mayors, and state legislatures. However, in presidential elections, citizens do not directly choose who wins. The president and vice president are chosen by electors through the process of the Electoral College, established by Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution. The presidential election happens every four years on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November. Then, the Electoral College meets a few weeks after election day to cast their votes.
The Electoral College consists of 538 electors. The 538 electors include one elector for each senator, one for each representative, and three for the District of Columbia. “College” refers to a group of colleagues, not an educational institution. The number of electors assigned to each state is dependent on each state’s population. Every elector has one electoral vote and every state determines how they will select their own electors independent from the rest of the country. Currently, all states select electors by a popular vote. Electors are appointed by the political parties in the states and they pledge to support that party’s candidate. If electors break their pledge, they are declared faithless electors. Faithless electors typically do not impact the outcome of the election. Some states replace faithless electors and cancel their votes. In other states, a faithless elector can be charged with a misdemeanor or in some cases even a felony for breaking their pledge.
A presidential candidate must win 270 out of the 538 electoral votes to become the president-elect. 270 electoral votes are all that is needed to win the election, therefore the president can lose the popular vote and still win the election. There are two systems for awarding electoral votes. The more popular system is the winner-take-all system. This is used in 48 states and the District of Columbia. Under this system, when a candidate wins the popular vote in a state they win all of the electoral votes for that state. The less common system is the district system which is only used in Maine and Nebraska. This system functions by awarding one electoral vote to the candidate who won the most votes in each district. The remaining two electoral votes are awarded to the candidate who won the popular vote in the whole state.
The idea of abolishing the Electoral College has public support. 61% of Americans support abolishing the Electoral College to then depend on the popular vote. 89% of Democrats and 23% of Republicans support the idea. Most Republicans are resistant to this idea because they are currently benefiting from the Electoral College system. More states are Republican states but Republican states tend to have fewer people. Many Americans want to abolish or alter the Electoral College because the voice of the people does not directly determine who the president is. Additionally, the Electoral College gives a lot of power to the swing states. Swing states are states that switch between the parties they support, meaning that the vote could go either way. This system causes presidential candidates to focus on swing states instead of focusing on getting as many voters as possible across the country. On the other hand, many Americans are against the idea of abolishing the Electoral College because it ensures that all parts of the country play a role in the selection of the President of the United States. Smaller states that would have been otherwise overlooked are given a louder voice through the Electoral College.
Abolishing the Electoral College would require an amendment to be made to the U.S. Constitution. Congress can propose an amendment with a two-thirds majority of both chambers and then it would have to be ratified by three-fourths of the states. Two-thirds of the state legislatures can petition Congress to hold a Constitutional Convention where amendments to the Constitution could be drafted, however, no amendment has been made this way before. The debate over whether the Electoral College protects or harms democracy has been taking place since the 2000 election and continues to this day.
