Future of...Electoral College
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Welcome to Atlas Futura, where I cover the future of everything!
Let’s get right to it.
What is the Electoral College?
When Americans cast their vote for a Presidential candidate, they are actually voting for a group of delegates, appointed by each state’s political parties to vote on their behalf—i.e., the Electoral College. In order for the President to win, they need 270 of these electoral votes.
The Electoral College was created as a compromise from the Founding Fathers, and it has had serious implications on our democracy. The United States (U.S.) is the only country to vote this way, and it has become a highly controversial topic.
Image credit: Biography.com, with a Futura Affairs twist.
As witnessed with Presidents Bush and Trump, it’s actually the Electoral College, not one’s individual vote, that determines who becomes the President of the U.S.
Operation Battleground States
Battleground states, also known as “Swing States” are states that are more divided politically and could go either way in each election, causing the Democrat or Republican Presidential candidate to win. The other “safe” states reliably vote for the same party each election, so the Battleground States end up being the focus for Presidential campaigns and ultimately, the decision makers. Because of key swing states, a President can win the popular vote but lose the Electoral College vote.
Case in point, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote in 2016 by 3 million votes, but ultimately lost to Trump who won the Electoral College with 304 votes (compared to Hillary’s 227 votes for Hillary Clinton). Voters in “safe states” can’t help but feel their vote is a waste. In a sense, they are. All that really matters for the Presidential election is the Electoral College.
To put it into context, this map shows how the Presidential candidates viewed the relevant voters in the 2012 election (and their issues), with the majority of states missing altogether. If a state wasn’t not on this map, their vote didn’t really count:
Image credit: Nationalpopularvote.com.
What’s the Future of The Electoral College?
Majority of Americans want to scrap the system altogether.
A recent Gallup poll reported the majority of Americans—61 percent—support eradicating the Electoral College for the popular vote. But it typically benefits the Republican party, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that 89 percent of Democrats would like to get rid of the Electoral College, while only 23 percent of Republicans agree.
In reality, the U.S. would have two choices to get rid of the Electoral College: approve a constitutional amendment or assemble a constitutional convention. These are unlikely to happen however as it would involve states passing a change to diminish their power in deciding the President of an election. If you know any politicians, you know that’s not likely.
One glimmer of hope is the Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote.
Net-net, if a state signs this Agreement, it pledges that all its electors to the victor in the popular vote if the states controlling 270 or more electoral votes have agreed to do the same. Then whoever wins the popular vote will therefore win the electoral vote. It’s already enacted by 16 jurisdictions possessing 196 electoral votes. But all these states are democratic—and to make this change, Battleground states and Red states would have to volunteer to reduce their power.
It’s an unfair system that’s here to stay. Unless more problem solvers like Barry Fadem and John Koza can come up with some ideas to shift how it works, get used to the Electoral College and its implications on the future of our democracy.
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