During the 2020 presidential election coverage, you have probably heard KCRA 3 constantly reference the term “Electoral College,” and say the words “Road to 270.” But what is the Electoral College, why does it matter, and why are we on a road heading to 270?The number 270 is the total amount of electoral votes either President Donald Trump or former Vice President Joe Biden needs to sustain in order to win the White House. There are 538 Electoral College votes total, so 270 is just above the halfway mark.The United States is the only country using an Electoral College method, which is made up of delegates from each state to pick its head of state. Danielle Martin, Associate Professor of Political Science at Sacramento State University, says when Americans vote for a president, they’re voting for who their state will vote for.”You really just have to keep in mind that it’s this indirect system. It’s not just a direct vote for president. You’re actually casting your vote for an elector to represent you.”Each state is allotted a different number of electoral votes. The number is based on the combined total of the state’s delegates in the Senate and House of Representatives. The 23rd Amendment granted Washington, D.C. three electoral votes.“It corresponds directly to their representation in Congress and that’s determined by the population which is determined with reapportionment every 10 years after the U.S. Census,” Martin explained.If Trump and Biden tie at 269 electoral votes, then the process goes to the U.S. House of Representatives and they decide who wins. “Each state delegation would have one vote for president, and so, the candidate would need to receive votes from a majority of states,” Martin said. “So that’s at least 26 states in order to win the presidency. That means that a really populous state like California would have one vote in the U.S. House and so would a much less populous state like Wyoming.”“It’s possible they could decide to vote for whoever their state selected, or they could potentially vote for whoever wins the national popular vote. Again, it would be up to each state delegation to decide.”Because the electoral vote is what determines the winner, it’s possible for someone to win the presidency without winning the popular vote. This happened twice in the last two decades with George W. Bush in 2000, and President Donald Trump in 2016.“The reason that happens is because the candidate who wins the popular vote won by huge margins in some states, but then lost by just really close margins in other states in swing states,” said the associate professor.If electoral votes are what chooses the president, does your vote even count?“Your vote still matters because it contributes to that overall popular vote which determines who wins the state’s electoral college votes,” Martin told KCRA 3.Forty-eight out of 50 states have a “winner-take-all” system which means whoever gains the popular vote wins all of the state’s Electoral College votes. Two states, Maine and Nebraska, use the congressional district method where they allocate two electoral votes to the popular vote winner in the state and one electoral vote to the popular vote winner in each congressional district.How does one become an elector?“The political parties are the ones who select their own electors and how the parties decide how to select their electors is determined by the party itself. That can also even vary by state. But each presidential election year, essentially, the party’s presidential nominee is going to file with the state, for example, here’s the list of electors that are pledged to that particular candidate in the event that they win.”Electors aren’t necessarily required to vote for their state’s popular vote winner. Someone who casts their vote for a person other than who their state dictates whom they should vote for is called a “Faithless Elector.”“It’s really rare,” Associate Professor Martin said. “In some states they even would cancel the votes of a faithless elector and repeal and replace that elector. And then some other states have legal penalties or fines for faithless electors and the Supreme Court ruled recently earlier this year that states do have the right to sanction those types of faithless electors. In California, there’s a legal penalty for faithless electors, but the vote still would cast would be cast as it as it was, or it was still counted as it was cast.”There are arguments for and against the Electoral College system. Those who want to nix the system say the Electoral College is not as democratic as a direct popular vote. They also argue the Electoral College can produce a winner who doesn’t actually win the popular vote.“There are biases in Electoral College that would favor smaller population states and it pushes presidential campaigns to focus on swing states while ignoring other states that are so called, you know, safe states, such as California. When presidential campaigns focus on those swing states it might lead citizens of other states to not think that their vote matters as much which could have a demobilizing effect on citizens in non-swing states.”In terms of keeping the Electoral College, supporters say discrepancies between the Electoral College and the public vote are relatively rare. “Although it’s true that the swing states do receive more attention than they would otherwise if we had a different system, they also probably would argue that swing states often are fairly representative of the country as a whole,” explained Martin. “If we had something different, like a direct national popular vote, then it would probably push presidential campaigns to spend more time and effort in the most populous cities or states, which would only shift the inequities of the presence of presidential campaign attention and it wouldn’t necessarily solve the issue.”Making changes to the Electoral College would require a constitutional amendment.Each state has until December to certify election results. The Electoral College will meet on Dec. 14 to cast their votes for the presidential candidate they’re pledged to.
During the 2020 presidential election coverage, you have probably heard KCRA 3 constantly reference the term “Electoral College,” and say the words “Road to 270.”
But what is the Electoral College, why does it matter, and why are we on a road heading to 270?
The number 270 is the total amount of electoral votes either President Donald Trump or former Vice President Joe Biden needs to sustain in order to win the White House. There are 538 Electoral College votes total, so 270 is just above the halfway mark.
The United States is the only country using an Electoral College method, which is made up of delegates from each state to pick its head of state.
Danielle Martin, Associate Professor of Political Science at Sacramento State University, says when Americans vote for a president, they’re voting for who their state will vote for.
“You really just have to keep in mind that it’s this indirect system. It’s not just a direct vote for president. You’re actually casting your vote for an elector to represent you.”
Each state is allotted a different number of electoral votes. The number is based on the combined total of the state’s delegates in the Senate and House of Representatives. The 23rd Amendment granted Washington, D.C. three electoral votes.
“It corresponds directly to their representation in Congress and that’s determined by the population which is determined with reapportionment every 10 years after the U.S. Census,” Martin explained.
If Trump and Biden tie at 269 electoral votes, then the process goes to the U.S. House of Representatives and they decide who wins.
“Each state delegation would have one vote for president, and so, the candidate would need to receive votes from a majority of states,” Martin said. “So that’s at least 26 states in order to win the presidency. That means that a really populous state like California would have one vote in the U.S. House and so would a much less populous state like Wyoming.”
“It’s possible they could decide to vote for whoever their state selected, or they could potentially vote for whoever wins the national popular vote. Again, it would be up to each state delegation to decide.”
Because the electoral vote is what determines the winner, it’s possible for someone to win the presidency without winning the popular vote. This happened twice in the last two decades with George W. Bush in 2000, and President Donald Trump in 2016.
“The reason that happens is because the candidate who wins the popular vote won by huge margins in some states, but then lost by just really close margins in other states in swing states,” said the associate professor.
If electoral votes are what chooses the president, does your vote even count?
“Your vote still matters because it contributes to that overall popular vote which determines who wins the state’s electoral college votes,” Martin told KCRA 3.
Forty-eight out of 50 states have a “winner-take-all” system which means whoever gains the popular vote wins all of the state’s Electoral College votes. Two states, Maine and Nebraska, use the congressional district method where they allocate two electoral votes to the popular vote winner in the state and one electoral vote to the popular vote winner in each congressional district.
How does one become an elector?
“The political parties are the ones who select their own electors and how the parties decide how to select their electors is determined by the party itself. That can also even vary by state. But each presidential election year, essentially, the party’s presidential nominee is going to file with the state, for example, here’s the list of electors that are pledged to that particular candidate in the event that they win.”
Electors aren’t necessarily required to vote for their state’s popular vote winner. Someone who casts their vote for a person other than who their state dictates whom they should vote for is called a “Faithless Elector.”
“It’s really rare,” Associate Professor Martin said. “In some states they even would cancel the votes of a faithless elector and repeal and replace that elector. And then some other states have legal penalties or fines for faithless electors and the Supreme Court ruled recently earlier this year that states do have the right to sanction those types of faithless electors. In California, there’s a legal penalty for faithless electors, but the vote still would cast would be cast as it as it was, or it was still counted as it was cast.”
There are arguments for and against the Electoral College system. Those who want to nix the system say the Electoral College is not as democratic as a direct popular vote. They also argue the Electoral College can produce a winner who doesn’t actually win the popular vote.
“There are biases in Electoral College that would favor smaller population states and it pushes presidential campaigns to focus on swing states while ignoring other states that are so called, you know, safe states, such as California. When presidential campaigns focus on those swing states it might lead citizens of other states to not think that their vote matters as much which could have a demobilizing effect on citizens in non-swing states.”
In terms of keeping the Electoral College, supporters say discrepancies between the Electoral College and the public vote are relatively rare.
“Although it’s true that the swing states do receive more attention than they would otherwise if we had a different system, they also probably would argue that swing states often are fairly representative of the country as a whole,” explained Martin. “If we had something different, like a direct national popular vote, then it would probably push presidential campaigns to spend more time and effort in the most populous cities or states, which would only shift the inequities of the presence of presidential campaign attention and it wouldn’t necessarily solve the issue.”
Making changes to the Electoral College would require a constitutional amendment.
Each state has until December to certify election results. The Electoral College will meet on Dec. 14 to cast their votes for the presidential candidate they’re pledged to.
