Electoral Votes.. can someone please explain?

Question

Can someone please explain to me how the electoral votes work? I am confused on how they are divided up after the popular votes are calculated.

For example, if there are 12,000,000 people in a state, and 4,000,000 people vote for one candidate, but 2,000,000 people vote for the other person, with the last 6,000,000 people not voting. I do not understand how you can calculate how many votes go towards each candidate.

If you could please help me figure this out, it would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

each state gets a set number of electoral votes based on their over-all population. Rhode island gets two, Il gets 21, and CA has a little over 50.

the majority of votes (51%) for one politician will determine all the Electoral votes.

So even if a state has for instance 49% dem and 51% votes for the rep canidate- the rep gets all the elctoral votes.

states its not even close to 50/50 (like Utah) where its mainly conservative or Liberal- the minority will not vote. because their votes won't count.

there have been about 5 presidents who've wons the popular vote (when you add up each individual vote, not electoral votes) but not the office.

now if the people who don't vote- because their vote will not actually count because they are in the minority- voted maybe even more people would have won the popular vote.

this is why many want to abandon the electoral college. when it was originally made it worked better and did have a purpose. now the reasons to have it have all been negated

Answer 2

There are 48 States that have a winner-takes-all rule for the Electoral College. In these States, whichever candidate receives a majority of the vote, or a plurality of the popular vote (less than 50 percent but more than any other candidate) takes all of the State's electoral votes.

Only two States, Nebraska and Maine, do not follow the winner-takes-all rule. In those States, there could be a split of electoral votes among candidates through the State's system for proportional allocation of votes.

Answer 3

With rare exception, all the electoral votes a state has goes to the candidate that won the popular vote in the state. The number of electoral votes a state has is determined by the number of Congressman it has ( both senators plus all of those in the House ).

Answer 4

With the exception of Maine (which is subdivided for each elector chosen), elections in an individual state are "winner-take-all". That is, whoever gets the most popular votes in that state get all its electors. So, if only 12 people show up to vote and ten of them choose themselves and the other two vote for Joe Shmoe, then Joe Shmoe gets all of that state's electors.

Answer 5

Almost ALL states (infact, I'm only aware of ONE that has an option to do anything different) cast ALL their electoral votes for ONE candidate. Alaska has the option to divide the vote (3 votes) according to popular vote, but has never chosen to do so. This is why California is such a heavy hitter. CA has 52 electoral votes and those are cast for the candidate that the majority votes for, regardless of how little he or she wins by.

Answer 6

before an election each party select their electoral representatives. Which ever party wins the majority of the vote in that state, that electoral representative casts his vote for that party. This way each state has the same voting power as the next. this program keeps states like NY, California and Texas deciding all of our elections. Once you understand the process it makes a whole lot sense.

Answer 7

Every state gets an elector for each representative it has, so two automatically for the senate and one for each congressperson. The number of representatives is determined by % of population, which is rechecked every 10 years by the census.

Answer 8

you vote for the person you like
this makes you happy
then the party with the most members in your state
throw your vote out the window
and appoint who ever they want as president