Contents
Distribution of Electoral Votes
Notes on the Electoral College
The Electoral College is highly complex. Many people do not understand it well. Some points that should be understood:
A. The framers of the Constitution created this system because they did not feel that the voters would be well enough informed to vote wisely in a presidential election. They thought the Electoral College would ensure a wise decision while protecting the interests of smaller states and Southern states, whose approval would be necessary to gain ratification of the Constitution. Note, however, that the framers did not anticipate many ways in which the presidential election process would develop. For one thing, they hoped that political parties would not be influential in that process. By the election of 1800, however, political parties already were playing an important role.
B. Electors are awarded to states (and the District of Columbia) according to the number of representatives they have in Congress. Since each state has a minimum of three representatives – one representative and two senators – each state has a minimum of three electors. fI you took the population of the United States in 2010 and divided it by 538, the total number of electors, each elector would represent 573,876 people. Thus, if the electors were awarded proportionately, Wyoming, with its 2010 population of 563,626 people, would have only one elector. Since it and other small states have three electors, they are overrepresented in the Electoral College.
C. Each presidential candidate on the ballot has his/her own slate of electors. These electors are usually chosen by the party, so they are loyal to the party’s candidate. With two exceptions, Maine and Nebraska, the electoral votes are awarded on a winner- take-all basis. The candidate who wins a state wins all that state’s electoral votes.
D. A candidate can lose the popular election but win the electoral vote. A candidate might win the popular vote by leading in the most populous states. But many smaller states have more electoral votes per person than larger states.
E. If no one wins an electoral majority in the Electoral College, the election goes to the House of Representatives, where each state gets one vote.