electoral college

number of electoral college votes per state

• Every state has an amount of Electoral College votes (ECVs) equal to the number of Representatives plus 2 Senators it has in Congress

  • EX: California has the most ECVs with 54, compared to Wyoming, which only has 3

splitting the ECVs

• In most states, the candidates with the most votes wins all the state’s ECVs

• However, in Maine and Nebraska, ECVs are awarded based on which candidate wins the most votes in the congressional districts within the state

  • This means that the state’s ECV can be split between candidates

winning the presidency

• There are 538 ECVs in total

• Candidates must win at least 270 ECVs to become president

advantages of the electoral college system - strong outcome

• The Electoral College often gives the winner a large amount of support

• This is important for a president who needs to unite the nation and gives them a large mandate to govern

• The ECV system results in a strong outcome because in practice only 2 candidates compete for election

advantages of the electoral college system - small states representation

• The Electoral College gives small states influence over the election result

  • Without the EC system, voters in the least populated states would have no impact

disadvantages of the electoral college system - small states representation

• The EC system can often lead to small states being over-represented compared to more populated states

  • EX: Wyoming has one ECV for every 195,000 people, whilst Texas has one ECV for every 734,000 people

disadvantages of the electoral college system - popular vote

• In the ECV system, a candidate can have the highest number of individual votes but have the smallest number of ECVs

• This means that a candidate can win the popular vote but lose the election

  • EX: 2000 Clinton v Al Gore and 2016 Clinton v Trump

advantages of direct elections

• Direct elections would elect the president by a direct popular vote with the winning candidate having the largest percentage of the vote

  • Direct elections would resolve the issue of candidates, such as George W. Bush (2000) and Trump (2016), winning the presidential election despite losing the popular vote

disadvantages of direct elections

• However, it is unlikely for a president to win over 50% of the popular vote

• Supporters of the EC system argue that direct elections could encourage more third-party candidates and lead to presidents being elected with only a plurality of the vote

advantages of the proportional system

• Reform to a proportional system would give ECVs to candidates based on the proportion of the popular vote won in each state

  • A proportional system would more equally distribute ECVs, and be fairer to third parties who gain support

• Maine and Nebraska already use a partial proportional-style system, where some ECVs are awarded by congressional district rather than a winner-takes-all system

disadvantages of the proportional system

• Candidates are less likely to win an absolute majority of ECVs, as candidates for smaller parties would be able to compete and win votes

  • This could result in a situation where no candidate wins a majority

• If no candidate wins a majority of ECVs, the House decides the election under the 12th Amendment

congressional district system - nebraska & maine

• Nebraska and Maine are currently the only states using the congressional district system in elections

  • EX: in 2016 Maine’s 4 ECVs were split with Hillary Clinton winning 3 votes and Trump winning 1

disadvantages of the congressional district

different outcomes in the congressional district system

• In 2016, a congressional district system would have still caused Trump’s victory

• In 2000, the congressional district system would have likely given George Bush a larger victory than the electoral college, despite losing the popular vote to Al Gore

  • This is because Bush won more congressional districts in key states, even though Gore won the national popular vote