Could someone explain to me the function of the popluar/electoral vote?

Question

How is it possible to win the election if you lose the popular vote but win the electoral vote? If electoral vote is deciding the winner, what's the purpose of the popular vote?

Answer 1

each state has a certain number of electoral votes, the same number of representatives they have in congress, so it is pretty closely tied to the size of their population.

if you win the popular vote in a state, you get all of that state's electoral votes, no matter what percentage you won by. So the popular vote determines where the electoral votes go, but sometimes it can end up where someone gets a greater percentage of the electoral vote than the popular vote.

This system actually favors the small states, rather than the big ones, since it is based on how many representatives you get in Congress. Since every state gets at least one representative and two Senators, a state like Wyoming still has three electoral votes even though it definitely doesn't represent half the population of a state with 6 electoral votes. Small states are disproportionately represented.

This is why George Bush was able to win with less than the popular vote - he won a lot of small states. They don't LOOK small, on a map, but the populations of the Dakotas, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, etc. are WAY overrepresented in the electoral college.

Also, if you won 75% of the vote in NY, CA, FL, & OH and then had 49% in every other state, your opponent would wipe floors with you in the electoral college, but you would have the popular vote by a landslide, since the electoral college doesn't care how well you won in a state, just whether you won.

Answer 2

Popular vote is where the population of a city, county, state or country vote for the candidate. Popular vote is where the state places a vote. The number of popular votes are counted and each candidate is provided a certain number of representatives in the electoral college. It is then those Representatives case their vote for the candidate. If memory serves I believe only once in our nation's history has the electoral college voted for a candidate contrary to the popular vote at the time of the election.

Answer 3

You pose an interesting question. Unlike the propaganda of the common man thing we have been taught about the wonderful founding fathers, the founding fathers wanted common landowners to have full rights, not the poor guy working on a farm as an indentured servant. They instituted an electoral college to decide the elections, so educated men of a certain background would be elected, not some toothless, tanner with a penny in his pocket. Usually the electoral college ends up agreeing with the elections, but sometimes not. I forget an earlier president around the early 1900's or late 1800's won the electoral college but was not successfully elected by citizens' votes. He was actually referred to as "His Fraudulency" by the paper media. So we are definitely not as free as we think we are.

Answer 4

Because some states have a WINNER TAKE ALL concept that allows 50.0001% winners to get ALL the votes for the electorate.'

The states have ELECTORATES based on POPULATION so all you need is NY, Florida, Texas California to get a huge pluraity!

So, one or two big states that have WINNER TAKE ALL election processes can give you ELECTORIAL votes even though the POPULAR votes go otherwise!

Answer 5

The popular vote means nothing. You have to win the electoral college.