BlueEyes asked:
I know that the electoral votes are supposed to reflect the popular vote but they don’t in a lot of cases. This was a question to me by my Mom and I didn’t have a good answer. Can someone give a good answer please?
I know that the electoral votes are supposed to reflect the popular vote but they don’t in a lot of cases. This was a question to me by my Mom and I didn’t have a good answer. Can someone give a good answer please?
November 18th, 2009 at 3:12 am
You vote counts in your state. The one with the most states elctoral college votes wins. The larger population the state, the more electoral votes. I live in California which has always been predominately liberal. I will vote for McCain but my state will win all the democratic electoral votes, so really my vote doesnt matter much.
November 19th, 2009 at 3:22 am
Actually, only in rare instances has the electoral vote gone against the popular vote in a state. You don’t actually vote for President, you vote to tell your electoral college rep how to vote, and then hope they vote correctly.
November 19th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
In most states (Nebraska and Maine are exceptions, more on that in a sec) whichever candidate wins the majority of the popular vote gets ALL of that state’s electoral votes. This is true regardless of the margin of victory. You can win with 50.1% of the popular vote in a single state, or with 75% of the vote in a state, regardless, you would get ALL of the electoral votes for that state.
So by voting in your state, you help whichever candidate you chose get closer to winning that 50.1% (or more)
Maine and Nebraska are different - they each award some of their electoral votes by congressional district, which means it is possible to split the state between candidates.
Wikipedia’s entry on the electoral college has a lot of great info and history:)
November 19th, 2009 at 11:01 pm
Your vote counts in determining who the electors in your State vote for. You cast a vote for electors pledged to the election of a particular person. The Governor of your state will issue certificates of ascertainment to electors that are pledged to the election of the person that the people indicated a preference for in the general election. Of course, only 24 states have laws which require those electors to vote for the person the people preferred.
November 20th, 2009 at 11:16 pm
The electoral vote is determined by the popular vote. Tell you mom to google: Electoral College
November 22nd, 2009 at 6:14 pm
Electors don’t have to vote for the majority-
they are “pledged” to do so-
They don’t have to-
for some god-awful reason,
They aren’t bound to vote the way they are “pledged”-
So, technically voting for someone who said they would
vote your way, but has the option to change their mind and
vote against you.
Kind of out-dated.
November 25th, 2009 at 9:39 pm
because your vote decides who gets your State’s electoral votes. If we didnt have that system, eveyr President would be from california or New York, etc, and they would only run campaigns in heavily populated cities. History would have been quite different. If we had a pure popular vote, Carter and Clinton would never have been President, because the primary system would have been rigged to promte urban or coastal candidates - where the votes are. Ed Koch, Mario Cuomo, and Rudy would all be former Presidents.