The Electoral College
● Popular vote: whoever gets the most votes wins.
● The United States is the only country that picks its president using this method.
When Americans vote for their president, what they are actually voting for, is who their state will vote
for. This is why, every so often, someone wins the presidency without winning the popular vote.
Note: The majority of Americans do not like this system.
Why does the U.S still use the electoral college system? And who actually benefits from it?
The Electoral College is based on how people are represented in CONGRESS: where each state has a
number of representatives based on its population, and every state also gets two senators.
Example:
Texas has 25.268.000 of population = 36 representatives in congress
Vermont has 630.000 of population = 1 representative in congress
Representatives in both states each represent roughly the same number of people (Texas = 720.000
and Vermont = 630.000)
Also, the state gets the same number of delegates as their congressional representatives, plus two-for
each senator.
Texas = 36+2 = 38 electoral votes
Vermont = 1+2 = 3 electoral votes
In Texas, one electoral delegate represents three times the amount of people as one in vermont; and,
that makes each individual person´s vote in Vermont a lot more influential.
The winner of the presidential election is the candidate who gets 270 or more of these Electoral
College votes. The candidate who gets the most votes in a state, gets ALL its electoral votes. If they
win the state by 1%, they win 100% of the electoral votes
Minnesota 45% vs 46% → gets all votes
Florida is usually a swing state
Swing State is where the two major political parties have similar levels of support among voters,
viewed as important determining the overall result of a presidential election. These states have way
more influences over the elections because they are where the election actually takes place. They only
exist because of the Electoral College.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajavsMbCapY
● Popular vote: whoever gets the most votes wins.
● The United States is the only country that picks its president using this method.
When Americans vote for their president, what they are actually voting for, is who their state will vote
for. This is why, every so often, someone wins the presidency without winning the popular vote.
Note: The majority of Americans do not like this system.
Why does the U.S still use the electoral college system? And who actually benefits from it?
The Electoral College is based on how people are represented in CONGRESS: where each state has a
number of representatives based on its population, and every state also gets two senators.
Example:
Texas has 25.268.000 of population = 36 representatives in congress
Vermont has 630.000 of population = 1 representative in congress
Representatives in both states each represent roughly the same number of people (Texas = 720.000
and Vermont = 630.000)
Also, the state gets the same number of delegates as their congressional representatives, plus two-for
each senator.
Texas = 36+2 = 38 electoral votes
Vermont = 1+2 = 3 electoral votes
In Texas, one electoral delegate represents three times the amount of people as one in vermont; and,
that makes each individual person´s vote in Vermont a lot more influential.
The winner of the presidential election is the candidate who gets 270 or more of these Electoral
College votes. The candidate who gets the most votes in a state, gets ALL its electoral votes. If they
win the state by 1%, they win 100% of the electoral votes
Minnesota 45% vs 46% → gets all votes
Florida is usually a swing state
Swing State is where the two major political parties have similar levels of support among voters,
viewed as important determining the overall result of a presidential election. These states have way
more influences over the elections because they are where the election actually takes place. They only
exist because of the Electoral College.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajavsMbCapY
