Just like after every election, one of the most frequently asked questions is about the purpose and relevance of the electoral college. While it is our Constitutional right to vote, it is the electoral college whose votes decide the candidacy. In it’s simplest form, the Constitution under the 23rd Amendment states that each state, and the District of Columbia, have a certain number of representatives directly proportional to the population of the state. It is the delegates of the electoral college that have the final vote on who wins the election. This is the reason it is possible for a candidate to be elected president without actually winning the popular vote.
The electoral college is a voting system established in the 1700s that distributes votes to each state based on the population. There are 538 votes in total. Some larger states like California have 55 votes, while smaller or less populated states like Rhode Island or Alaska have only three votes. The candidate must win 270 or more votes from the electoral college– this can be done by winning less than a fourth of all states. While it may seem like larger states have more power, it is the smaller states that have more power over the outcome of the election. This point system awards the same amount of votes to the 500,000 citizens of Wyoming, that it does to thirty four million citizens of California. What most citizens don’t know is that representatives in 24 states can vote for whomever they please, regardless of how their state votes.
At it’s core the true purpose of the electoral college was to aid citizens who were unable to travel to voting centers on the day of election. Now there are voting centers in almost every town, absentee ballots, and early voting making it’s purpose arbitrary. However, the founding fathers thought it would be reckless to give that much power to the popular vote, so they devised a system that allowed citizens to vote for “responsible” representatives that would then cast their ballot for the president. In 1787, when the constitution was written, the only people allowed to vote were white males who owned land. The majority of the men that fit into this very narrow category were farmers, who were often times uneducated. But in today’s day and age, citizens are educated and informed on the complex issues that face our nation, and therefore should be trusted to decide who they want to be their president.
The electoral college is still not well explained. Maybe this is on purpose or maybe this is just coincidence but most Americans don’t understand that when they cast their ballot, their votes will most likely be disregarded because the deciding vote is that of the electoral college, not the popular vote. Examples of this are Al Gore vs. George W. Bush and as of Tuesday, Clinton vs. Trump. Technology, and electronic voting stations, have allowed us to tally exactly how many votes go to each candidate. There is no longer the burden of counting out each ballot by hand, thus eliminating cheating and human error.
This system, though necessary when our nation was created, is now an archaic, outdated system that needs to be abolished. Thanks to the 16th and 19th Amendments of the constitution, all genders and ethnicities are allowed to vote. Even though we have made an exuberant amount of progress with voting rights, the majority of the electoral college are white males, which does not reflect the voice of the majority of Americans.
It is unlikely that the electoral college will be abolished any time soon because it entails amending the constitution, which requires 38 of the 50 states to approve the change. But with the progression and determination of our generation, I believe that we will be seeing a drastic change in voting policies and hopefully the abolition of the electoral college within our lifetime.
If you’re still confused on how the electoral college works, watch Tru TV’s, Adam Ruins Everything five minute breakdown of the electoral college. Find it here: https://youtu.be/ZlwbTUs-17k