US Elections 101 (Eng)

The U.S. presidential election process can appear complicated to outsiders, largely because of the Electoral College system. Unlike many countries where the head of state is directly elected by popular vote, the United States uses an indirect system. This article explains how U.S. elections operate, focusing on the Electoral College and its pivotal role in determining the presidency.

The Basics of U.S. Elections

Every four years, on the first Tuesday in November, Americans participate in a presidential election. While many people might assume that the candidate who receives the most votes nationwide wins, the U.S. presidential election doesn’t work that way. Instead of simply counting up the popular vote to declare a winner, the U.S. uses an electoral system that places decision-making power in the hands of a group known as the Electoral College. This unique system ensures that each state plays a crucial role in determining the next president, not just the most populous states or urban areas.

Popular Vote vs. Electoral College Vote

The distinction between the popular vote and the Electoral College vote is key to understanding U.S. elections. The popular vote is the total number of individual votes each candidate receives from citizens across the entire country. But unlike in many other democratic systems, winning the most popular votes does not guarantee a candidate the presidency. Instead, the Electoral College—a system of electors assigned to each state—ultimately decides the outcome. This means a candidate could technically win the presidency while losing the national popular vote, a scenario that has happened multiple times in U.S. history.

What is the Electoral College?

The Electoral College consists of 538 electors, each of whom represents a state (or Washington D.C.) and casts a vote to elect the president and vice president. The number 538 corresponds to the total number of members of Congress: 435 representatives (based on population) and 100 senators (two per state), plus an additional three electors for the District of Columbia. Each state’s electoral votes equal the sum of its U.S. senators and representatives. For example, California, the most populous state, has 55 electoral votes (53 representatives and 2 senators), while less populated states like Wyoming have only three electoral votes.

The framers of the U.S. Constitution established the Electoral College as a compromise between electing the president by a popular vote and having Congress choose the president. This system aims to balance the interests of large and small states by giving smaller states a proportionally greater voice.

How Does the Electoral College Work?

1. Voters Choose Electors

   On Election Day, voters in each state cast their ballots for a slate of electors who are pledged to support a particular candidate. The candidate who wins the most votes in a state usually wins all of that state’s electoral votes, a system known as “winner-takes-all.” Maine and Nebraska are the exceptions, using a proportional system where electoral votes are split based on the popular vote.

   
   

2. Electors Cast Their Votes

   After the general election, the electors chosen by the voters meet in December in their respective state capitals to cast their votes for president and vice president. Although electors are expected to vote for the candidate they are pledged to, there have been rare instances of “faithless electors” who vote against their party’s nominee. However, these instances have never affected the outcome of an election.

   
   

3. Counting the Votes

   In early January, Congress meets to count the electoral votes. To win the presidency, a candidate needs a majority of the electoral votes, which is at least 270 out of the 538 total. If no candidate reaches this number, the House of Representatives selects the president from the top three candidates, while the Senate chooses the vice president.

   
   

4. In Case of a Tie or No Majority

   If no candidate achieves the required 270 electoral votes, the election goes to the House of Representatives, where each state delegation casts one vote for president. This process has only occurred a few times in history, but it remains a constitutional safeguard in case of a deadlock.

   
   

Why the Electoral College?

The Electoral College was designed to address concerns the Founding Fathers had about direct democracy. They feared that direct popular elections could lead to uninformed, hasty decisions, and they wanted to ensure that states had a meaningful role in choosing the president. The system was also intended to prevent a few heavily populated areas from dominating the election, ensuring that smaller states had influence. The goal was to balance the power between the national government and state governments, reflecting the federal structure of the U.S.

Pros and Cons of the Electoral College

Pros:

• State Representation: The Electoral College helps ensure that smaller states are not overshadowed by larger ones. By giving each state a minimum of three electoral votes, even states with smaller populations have a voice in the election.

• Encourages Stability: The requirement of a clear majority in the Electoral College prevents fragmented results and helps produce a decisive winner. It also discourages the rise of third-party candidates that could fracture the vote, potentially leading to more unstable outcomes.

• Nationwide Campaigning: Candidates must appeal to voters across various states, promoting a broader, more inclusive campaign. Instead of focusing only on populous urban areas, candidates must win over a diverse range of states and regions to secure electoral votes.

  
  

Cons:

• Mismatch with Popular Vote: One of the most significant criticisms of the Electoral College is that it can result in a candidate winning the presidency without winning the popular vote, as happened in the 2000 and 2016 elections. This raises concerns about the democratic legitimacy of the system.

• Swing State Focus: The winner-takes-all nature of most state elections leads candidates to focus their campaigns on “swing states,” where the outcome is uncertain. This leaves voters in states that are solidly Democratic or Republican feeling ignored, as their votes are less likely to influence the final result.

• Disproportionate Representation: Smaller states are overrepresented relative to their population because every state is guaranteed at least three electoral votes. This gives some voters, particularly in smaller states, more influence per vote than voters in larger states.

  
  

Notable Elections and the Electoral College

The Electoral College has played a decisive role in several notable elections:

• 2000 Election: In one of the closest and most controversial elections in U.S. history, George W. Bush won the presidency despite losing the popular vote to Al Gore by over 500,000 votes. The election hinged on the results in Florida, where a margin of just 537 votes awarded Bush all of the state’s electoral votes, securing his victory.

• 2016 Election: In 2016, Donald Trump won the Electoral College with 304 votes, even though his opponent, Hillary Clinton, received nearly 3 million more votes in the popular vote. This election reignited the debate over whether the Electoral College reflects the will of the people.

  
  

Conclusion: Does the Electoral College Still Work?

The Electoral College continues to be a topic of debate in the U.S. While some believe it serves as an important safeguard against mob rule and helps balance power between states, others argue that it is an outdated system that doesn’t reflect modern democratic principles. Proposals to reform or abolish the Electoral College have been discussed, but changing the system would require a constitutional amendment, making it a difficult and politically charged process.

Regardless of the debate, the Electoral College remains the system through which the U.S. elects its president. Understanding how it works is crucial to making sense of U.S. election outcomes and the democratic principles that guide this system. By considering both its strengths and its limitations, one can appreciate the complexity and thought behind this cornerstone of American democracy.