If you could un-invent something, what would it be?
I first learned about the Electoral College during a discussion with my teacher in 4th grade, circa 1976, election year. Before this talk, I was under the impression that Presidents and their running mates were selected by a system in which most of the nation decided who they wanted in that position.
It only seemed fair. If 3 out of 4 people want to watch a movie, majority rules…
I’m sure you can imagine my surpise, along with my classmates, when he told us that the selection was made by a constitutional body, comprised of 538 electors.
He explained that a candidate need only secure 270 electoral votes to win the election and, get this, total electoral votes varied by state, with California leading the way with 54 votes.
54? One state?? Fifty FOUR???? A state whose population makes up 11% of the U.S. gets 20% of the electoral votes?!?
Meanwhile, states such as Delaware, North and South Dakota, Alaska, and a few others scrape the bottom of the barrel, each bringing only 3 votes to the table.
Because of these variances, at minimum, you only need to win the election to secure Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, and Wisconsin.
So unless my math is off, 7 states, comprised of approximately 94.5 million people, making up only 27% of the total population, determine the fate of the election (and the nation) if one wins them all. Even if a candidate did not collect each of those Electoral Infinity Stones, having most of them doesn’t make it hard for you to snap your finger and wipe the rest of the voting away (I still think that Thanos was right.).
In short, it doesn’t matter if a presidential candidate wins the Popular vote. It doesn’t matter that the majority of people who voted in the United States have spoken. If they don’t snag the states that get you to 270 first, it don’t mean a thang.
I’ve heard the reasons why the system exists, but to be honest, they didn’t make sense to me back then. And you know what? Today, it STILL doesn’t make sense; to me, along with millions of other Americans.
Then again, they probably live in Delaware, North and South Dakota, Alaska…
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