Electoral College and Popular Vote

MommyLiberty5013

In 2000, Gore won the popular vote with Bush winning the EC. And I went back as far as 1980 and this hasn't happened as far back as that, but I didn't look any further into U.S. election history. A candidate who wins the EC wins the Popular Vote too, typically.

So, why don't we give a few EC points/votes to the Popular Vote winner? Like 10? Or 20? Obviously, it's a moot point since the EC winner is usually winning the Popular Vote as well, but...

It's basically a meaningless number...shouldn't it matter what the Popular Vote is?

If we gave EC points to a Popular Vote winner it would mean campaigning would need to occur in all states, not JUST the battleground ones. Right?

Couldn't that get more voters out and theoretically help the candidates too? Have a more involved/informed populus and not just always rely on the "blue, red, or battleground" distinctions?

 

 

CoffeeBeen

I read that the winner did not get the most votes 4 times in the history of the US - which is sort of high when you consider we've only had several dozen elections.

I don't like the EC.  And I think something should be done.  But few defend the EC, so I'll play Devil's advocate and point out a few problems with popular vote:

For one, think of the huge inconsistencies between voting laws in all the different states.  I think we would see an effect similar to the primaries:  every state would try to get an edge on earlier voting, longer voting, easier voting so that their state is more relevant.

The differences in ballot formatting could create similar inconsistencies between the states.

If there were a major disaster, it would significantly skew results in a way that we don't have to worry about as much with the EC.  For instance, if it were up to a popular vote - a hurricane in the gulf states could seriously hurt Republican's chance of winning simply because that's where they have the most concentrated support.

That being said, I don't like the current EC format.  So perhaps giving the popular vote electoral votes or making electoral votes proportional is a measured way to handle the EC problems.

LuckyDad

The short answer is to change the current electoral process we would have to amend the Constitution, a long, expensive process. For the Primary process the parties can change their rules every cycle, but the Electoral College is set in stone in the US Constitution. Neither major party has a huge incentive to try to fix the system, so unless it became a major issue for the public, it's unlikely to change.