When the common American citizen votes at the presidential elections, they believe that they are actually voting for the presidential candidate. This is not true. They are, in fact, voting only for that candidate’s selected electors. According to the New York Times “the electoral college is a group of people that elects the president and vice president.” In the Electoral college there is a winner-take-all feature that can affect the outcome of presidential elections. It can create problems such as a candidate winning an election, even though they don’t have the majority rule. This system also affects which states the candidates specifically target in their campaigns. There are other negative affects such as the prevention of third parties winning
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The electoral college was originally created as a compromise between popular vote and a senate vote for president. First the states or the party committees select the electors. Then, at the elections, the people vote for who they want as president and vice president. However when people vote they are actually voting for that candidate's electors. Then the electors that were voted for, will vote for the presidential candidates. The amount of electors per state is determined by the combined amount of congressional representatives in that state. “The candidate who wins a plurality of its popular vote- whether by 20 votes or 20,000 votes- wins all that state’s electoral votes” (The Challenges of Democracy, 294). This is known as the winner-take-all feature. This feature makes it possible for a candidate to win office, even if they don’t have the majority of the popular vote. This has happened five times in American history; the 2016 election being the most recent. In the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton received 2.9 million more votes than President-elect Donald Trump. He, however, won the election with 74 more electoral votes than her. According to CNN Politics “More Americans voted for Hillary Clinton than any
The electoral college was originally created as a compromise between popular vote and a senate vote for president. First the states or the party committees select the electors. Then, at the elections, the people vote for who they want as president and vice president. However when people vote they are actually voting for that candidate's electors. Then the electors that were voted for, will vote for the presidential candidates. The amount of electors per state is determined by the combined amount of congressional representatives in that state. “The candidate who wins a plurality of its popular vote- whether by 20 votes or 20,000 votes- wins all that state’s electoral votes” (The Challenges of Democracy, 294). This is known as the winner-take-all feature. This feature makes it possible for a candidate to win office, even if they don’t have the majority of the popular vote. This has happened five times in American history; the 2016 election being the most recent. In the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton received 2.9 million more votes than President-elect Donald Trump. He, however, won the election with 74 more electoral votes than her. According to CNN Politics “More Americans voted for Hillary Clinton than any