America presidential election course of is a fancy one, and the Electoral School performs a key function in figuring out who turns into president. On this article, we’ll present a complete overview of how the Electoral School works, from the allocation of electors to the precise voting course of.
The Electoral School is a physique of 538 electors, appointed by every state and the District of Columbia, who’re tasked with electing the president and vice chairman. The variety of electors every state receives relies on its inhabitants, with extra populous states having extra electors. The allocation of electors is set by the census, which is carried out each ten years.
How Does the Electoral School Work
The Electoral School is a system by which the president of the USA is elected by electors, moderately than by a direct in style vote.
- Electors Allotted by Inhabitants: Every state is allotted a lot of electors based mostly on its inhabitants.
- Electoral Votes: The candidate who wins the favored vote in a state wins all of that state’s electoral votes.
- 538 Whole Electors: There are a complete of 538 electors, with the District of Columbia additionally having 3 electors.
- Majority Wins: To turn into president, a candidate should win a majority of electoral votes (at present 270 out of 538).
- Contingent Election: If no candidate wins a majority of electoral votes, the Home of Representatives chooses the president.
- Uncommon Incidence: The contingent election has solely occurred twice in U.S. historical past (1800 and 1824).
- Electoral School Criticism: Some argue the Electoral School is undemocratic and might result in a president profitable with out the favored vote.
- Requires Reform: There have been calls to reform or abolish the Electoral School, however no adjustments have been made.
The Electoral School system has been part of the U.S. presidential election course of because the nation’s founding, and whereas it has been criticized, it stays the tactic used to elect the president.
Electors Allotted by Inhabitants: Every state is allotted a lot of electors based mostly on its inhabitants.
The variety of electors every state receives is set by its inhabitants, with extra populous states having extra electors. This allocation relies on the census, which is carried out each ten years. The District of Columbia can also be allotted three electors, regardless that it’s not a state.
The entire variety of electors is 538, which is the sum of the variety of representatives and senators every state has in Congress, plus the three electors from the District of Columbia. This quantity was set by the Twelfth Modification to the U.S. Structure in 1804.
The allocation of electors is designed to make sure that all states have a say within the presidential election, no matter their inhabitants. Nevertheless, this method has been criticized for giving extra weight to the votes of individuals in smaller states, since every state’s electors are awarded on a winner-take-all foundation.
For instance, within the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump received the Electoral School vote, regardless that Hillary Clinton received the favored vote by almost 3 million votes. This was as a result of Trump received in additional states, regardless that he misplaced the favored vote in these states. This has led to calls for改革 the Electoral School and even abolishing it altogether.
Regardless of the criticism, the Electoral School stays the tactic used to elect the president of the USA. It’s a complicated system, however it’s designed to make sure that all states have a say within the election, no matter their inhabitants.
Instance: Within the 2020 presidential election, California had essentially the most electors with 55, whereas Alaska had the fewest with 3. It is because California has a a lot bigger inhabitants than Alaska.
Electoral Votes: The candidate who wins the favored vote in a state wins all of that state’s electoral votes.
This is named the “winner-take-all” system. It implies that even when a candidate wins the favored vote in a state by a really slender margin, they nonetheless win all of that state’s electoral votes. This method is designed to make sure that the candidate who wins essentially the most votes in a state is the one who will get all of that state’s electoral votes.
For instance, within the 2020 presidential election, Joe Biden received the favored vote in Michigan by simply over 150,000 votes. Nevertheless, as a result of he received the favored vote in Michigan, he received all of Michigan’s 16 electoral votes. That is the case regardless that Donald Trump received extra counties in Michigan than Biden did.
The winner-take-all system has been criticized for giving an excessive amount of energy to swing states, that are states the place the election outcomes are sometimes very shut. It is because a candidate can win the presidency by profitable a couple of swing states, even when they lose the favored vote general. This has occurred 5 occasions in U.S. historical past, most lately in 2016 when Donald Trump received the Electoral School vote however misplaced the favored vote to Hillary Clinton.
Regardless of the criticism, the winner-take-all system stays in place in most states. There are a couple of states which have adopted a proportional system, by which the electoral votes are divided proportionally between the candidates based mostly on their share of the favored vote. Nevertheless, these states are the exception, and the winner-take-all system remains to be the most typical means of awarding electoral votes.
Instance: Within the 2020 presidential election, Biden received the favored vote in Pennsylvania by over 80,000 votes. This meant that he received all of Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes, regardless that Trump received extra counties in Pennsylvania than Biden did.
The winner-take-all system can generally result in a scenario the place a candidate wins the presidency with out profitable the favored vote. This has occurred 5 occasions in U.S. historical past, most lately in 2016.
538 Whole Electors: There are a complete of 538 electors, with the District of Columbia additionally having 3 electors.
The entire variety of electors is set by the Twelfth Modification to the U.S. Structure, which was ratified in 1804. The modification states that the variety of electors “shall be equal to the entire variety of Senators and Representatives to which the a number of States could also be entitled within the Congress.”
- Variety of Electors per State: Every state is allotted a lot of electors equal to its variety of representatives within the Home of Representatives plus its two senators. For instance, California has 53 representatives and two senators, so it has a complete of 55 electors.
- District of Columbia Electors: The District of Columbia will not be a state, however it’s nonetheless allotted three electors. It is because the Twenty-third Modification to the U.S. Structure, which was ratified in 1961, gave the District of Columbia electors within the presidential election.
- Whole Variety of Electors: The entire variety of electors is 538, which is the sum of the variety of electors from every state and the District of Columbia.
- Majority Wanted to Win: To turn into president, a candidate should win a majority of electoral votes (at present 270 out of 538).
The variety of electors has remained at 538 since 1964, when Alaska and Hawaii grew to become states. Previous to that, the variety of electors was 537.
Listed here are some further factors in regards to the 538 electors:
- Electors are chosen by every state’s political events.
- Electors are sometimes celebration loyalists who’re pledged to vote for his or her celebration’s nominee.
- Electors meet of their respective states on the primary Monday after the second Wednesday in December to forged their votes for president and vice chairman.
- The outcomes of the Electoral School vote are then despatched to Congress, which meets on January 6 to rely the votes and certify the outcomes of the election.
Majority Wins: To turn into president, a candidate should win a majority of electoral votes (at present 270 out of 538).
A candidate must win a majority of electoral votes in an effort to turn into president. Because of this they should win at the very least 270 electoral votes out of the overall 538 electoral votes. If no candidate wins a majority of electoral votes, then the Home of Representatives chooses the president from among the many prime three candidates who obtained essentially the most electoral votes.
The bulk vote requirement is designed to make sure that the president has a transparent mandate from the American individuals. It additionally helps to forestall a scenario the place a president is elected with solely a small plurality of the favored vote. This occurred in 1824, when John Quincy Adams was elected president regardless that he received solely 30.9% of the favored vote. Adams received the election within the Home of Representatives after no candidate received a majority of electoral votes.
The bulk vote requirement has been criticized for giving an excessive amount of energy to swing states. Swing states are states the place the election outcomes are sometimes very shut. Because of this a candidate can win the presidency by profitable a couple of swing states, even when they lose the favored vote general. This has occurred 5 occasions in U.S. historical past, most lately in 2016.
Regardless of the criticism, the bulk vote requirement stays in place. It’s a key a part of the Electoral School system, and it helps to make sure that the president has a transparent mandate from the American individuals.
Instance: Within the 2020 presidential election, Joe Biden received 306 electoral votes, whereas Donald Trump received 232 electoral votes. Because of this Biden received a majority of electoral votes and have become president, regardless that Trump received extra counties than Biden did.
