Please explain me why people vote in the USA for president, because I heard electoral select president?

Question

At the final election why people vote and how electrorals use people's vote.

Answer 1

People do not vote for a President directly. Each state gets a number of electoral votes based on their population. Individual states decide how these electors are divided up. Most require all of the electors to vote for whoever won the most votes in that state. In addition, there are super electors that are usually sitting Congress members who can vote for whatever candidate they want. This complication was done as a compromise or the US Constitution would never have become law. The 13 colonies each signed a separate peace treaty with England and each were independent nations. The less populated states wanted each state to count as one vote but the large states wanted popular vote to elect the President. The problem with popular vote is that a densely populated region that is totally out of touch with most of the nation could make laws that badly harmed the smaller states and the wishes of their people. The Electoral College was designed to prevent this from happening and has worked well doing it. It appears, though, that it may need to be strengthened in some way as recent elections have proved dubious. For instance, in the 2000 election, only about a quarter of the states voted for Al Gore yet he had the popular vote. People from densely populated coastal regions (New England, Pacific coast, and Great Lakes coast, who have no idea what works and doesn't work in the less populated interior) nearly were able to dictate their will on 3/4s of the country.

The Electoral College worked in that election, but it pointed out that the current super densities on the coasts have become dangerous and it was far too close to disenfranchising most of the country. These super densities will surely overpower the intent of the Electoral College if it is not strengthened.

Answer 2

The electoral college is a collection of people decided on by each part to make the final vote for the President. However, the electoral college only votes for the individual that their state's popular vote has elected. So the popular vote on a state by state basis tells that electorate what to do. The only problem is that electorates are determined by the population of the state. So there are more electorates in Florida than in Rhode Island. That means that while the collective popular vote of the entire country may be in favor of a particular candidate, the electorate count may favor the other candidate.

Answer 3

That's a good question, and it is difficult for citizens of the United States to understand. It must be very difficult for foreigners to understand. The US Presidential elections are not a true "popular" election in which each person has one vote. Instead, when you vote for President, you are actually voting for delegates in your state to vote in the "electoral college." In most states, its a "winner-takes-all" election. The Presidential candidate who wins the election in the state gets ALL the state electoral votes. What this means is that a candidate can win the popular vote, but lose the elector vote and the Presidency.

I don't think it's the best system, but it's what we have. It is possible to amend the Constitution and change the way the President is elected, but there is tremendous inertia in government which prevents change.

Answer 4

When we vote for the president we are really voting for the delegates to cast votes for us. Each state depending on population has so many electoral votes. Sometimes they are split depending on the popular vote of that state. This is supposed to keep one or two states from choosing who becomes president. I believe that this system which at the time was good, is no longer needed. Remember we do NOT live in a Democratic country. We live in a Democratic Republic. The difference is in a Republic we have represenitives that make laws for us and in a Democracy everyone would vote on laws.

Answer 5

Although we claim this to be a sovereign democracy it was never intended to be such a thing. When our founding fathers established law it was meant to appear to be sovereign meanwhile actually keeping the poor and ignorant at bay because, if you recall from history class, the rich white leaders of our country at the time believed they were superior to all. People vote for President and whoever takes the state gets the representatives from their party in the electoral college to actually vote. Usually the electoral college votes to favor the winner of the state but that is not always the case. Four times in our history the electoral college selected people other than the majority-vote winners including the elections of 1824, 1876, 1888 and 2000. In all cases congress ended up deciding the victor. It's a faux-democracy essentially.

Answer 6

the votes count. each state has a certain number of electoral votes which are cast (usually) for the candidate with the most votes in that state. It is possible to win without having the most overall votes (popular) but by having the most electoral votes. That is why we always hear about "key states".

Answer 7

People are acting as if the only person on the Ballot is the President...

The Electoral College plays no role in these choices:

There are Senators [every 6 yrs], Representatives [every 2 yrs], State Candidates: State Senators, State Representative, Judges, county positions, school board, some Law enforcement positions...

and I haven't named them all...

The constant drumbeat of "it doesn't make any difference", "the Electoral College controls it anyway" is absurd.

Do you want a voice in the government or will you abandon your rights?

ADDENDUM: IT IS ONLY THE PRESIDENCY & VP that the ELECTORAL COLLEGE makes a decision on.

http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/
http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/faq.html

Answer 8

Shhhh! Don't tell everybody that their votes don't really count.

But actually I've never understood the process by which American elections work. I mean you have a candidate that gets the popular vote, but then once these get passed to the electoral college then it can still be given to the other guy.

Honestly it sounds suspiciously like fraud to me.

Answer 9

Excellent point. They should go with the popular vote.

Initially, the electoral college was intended to balance populations and representation. Today, it has become a farce. You can have 100% of the popular vote one way, and the electorate can choose the other.

Answer 10

When we vote we are telling our electoral representatives how we want them to vote.