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Hidden Facts Behind The Electoral College

The Elector College was first introduced to our nation during the drafting of the US Constitution. In Article II Section 1 specifically describes that the Electoral College will be the process on how the US President will be elected. Because of this simple faced many people argue that the Electoral College is outdated and that the popular vote should be the determining process of presidential elections (Mahler and Eder 2016). This argument was introduced earlier in a 2000 presidential election where a republican candidate beat the democratic candidate with electoral votes but had fewer popular votes. In a nation that claims democracy, the electoral college process may seem to go against that ideology.

While we can argue back and forth about whether the Electoral College should be ditched, there are far more interesting and uncommon facts about it that do not receive the attention they deserve. We all know that each state has a number of electors based on population number, thus states with high populations get more electors. However, fact one, states originally were originally given only three electoral votes and then population number determined whether the received more votes (Grey 2011). Today there are 538 electors configured by added the 435 representatives and 100 senators (Hitt, Lecture Sept. 16, 2019). The electors number based on the representatives and state population helps explain why states like California have 55 votes and Wyoming has three (U.S. Census Bureau 2010). The electors are expected to be faithful to the people's votes and vote accordingly to state's majority vote (HA&A). But, fact number two, they electors are not required too. While most believe and even expect their state electors to act as delegates, and most do, some act as trustees. A delegate is someone elected to do as they're told and a trustee is someone elected to make decisions for their group they represent (Hitt, Lecture Sept. 16, 2019). This action to go against the majority's will, is what makes many lose faith in the electoral college. 

Next, if the states have electors, then do US territories get them too and thus participate in the electoral college? Fact number three: the answer is no. Even the District of Columbia, has electors, but only the same number as the state with the lowest population, Wyoming (Grey 2011). So why can't citizens of US territories participate in the electoral college with electoral votes? First of all, the constitution does not recognize them as a state or an exception like that of the District of Columbia (Grey 2011). The territories do however get to participate in primary elections but this does not have any impact on Electoral College process (NARA). The US territories account of around 4 million US citizens - and they are citizens - so wouldn't it make sense to amend the constitution to include them in the electoral college?

After learning these facts that you may or may have not known before, do you think the electoral college is an outdated system? why or why not? 


Sources: 
 Christoffer Stenhaug Johansen, Christoffer Stenhaug. “How the Electoral College Works.” YouTube,
7 Nov. 2011, https://youtu.be/OUS9mM8Xbbw. 

“Electoral College Fast Facts.” US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives, https://history.house.gov/Institution/Electoral-College/Electoral-College/.

“How Are The Electoral College Votes Allocated.” National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/allocation.html.

Mahler, Jonathan, and Steve Eder. “The Electoral College Is Hated by Many. So Why Does It Endure?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 10 Nov. 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/11/us/politics/the-electoral-college-is-hated-by-many-so-why-does-it-endure.html.

National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/faq.html#references.
“Electoral College Fast Facts.” US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives, https://history.house.gov/Institution/Electoral-College/Electoral-College/.
“How Are The Electoral College Votes Allocated.” National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/allocation.html.
Mahler, Jonathan, and Steve Eder. “The Electoral College Is Hated by Many. So Why Does It Endure?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 10 Nov. 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/11/us/politics/the-electoral-college-is-hated-by-many-so-why-does-it-endure.html.
National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/faq.html#references.
“Electoral College Fast Facts.” US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives, https://history.house.gov/Institution/Electoral-College/Electoral-College/.
“How Are The Electoral College Votes Allocated.” National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/allocation.html.
Mahler, Jonathan, and Steve Eder. “The Electoral College Is Hated by Many. So Why Does It Endure?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 10 Nov. 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/11/us/politics/the-electoral-college-is-hated-by-many-so-why-does-it-endure.html.
National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/faq.html#references.
“Electoral College Fast Facts.” US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives, https://history.house.gov/Institution/Electoral-College/Electoral-College/.
“How Are The Electoral College Votes Allocated.” National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/allocation.html.
Mahler, Jonathan, and Steve Eder. “The Electoral College Is Hated by Many. So Why Does It Endure?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 10 Nov. 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/11/us/politics/the-electoral-college-is-hated-by-many-so-why-does-it-endure.html.
National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/faq.html#references.
Christoffer Stenhaug Johansen, Christoffer Stenhaug. “How the Electoral College Works.” YouTube, 7 Nov. 2011, https://youtu.be/OUS9mM8Xbbw.
“Electoral College Fast Facts.” US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives, https://history.house.gov/Institution/Electoral-College/Electoral-College/.
“How Are The Electoral College Votes Allocated.” National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/allocation.html.
Mahler, Jonathan, and Steve Eder. “The Electoral College Is Hated by Many. So Why Does It Endure?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 10 Nov. 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/11/us/politics/the-electoral-college-is-hated-by-many-so-why-does-it-endure.html.
National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/faq.html#references.

Comments

  1. Bridget MurphySeptember 20, 2019 at 10:22 AM

    I think you do a nice job highlighting the arguments for and against the Electoral College. I forgot that citizens in U.S. territories get to vote in the popular election but that their votes don’t count in the Electoral College. Four million is a considerable amount of people, and it almost seems like the territories component gets drowned out because the conversation is so focused on the swing states. Being from Wyoming, I like the idea of my state and the people in my state having a say in national politics. However, especially being from the only consistently blue county in the state, I completely understand the frustration from larger states and agree that the Senate and Electoral College are not representative of the country at large.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ciarra BerrierSeptember 20, 2019 at 10:41 AM

    Thank you for your comment and your personal experience with the electoral college as a low population state. I agree that everyone focuses on the swing states far too much when the territories could make an even bigger difference. We protect them, and they are still citizens so it insane how they are not allowed to participate in presidential elections in 2019!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Eddy BaisleySeptember 23, 2019 at 7:31 PM

    Ciarra, I appreciate your post about the electoral college. I have had a mix of opinions when it comes to the institutional validity of the electoral college. I firmly believe the United State citizenry should be the ones electing the president not a relatively small group of "political elites" so to speak, who have more often than not received substantial campaign donations from wealthy interests. Furthermore, the electoral college frustrates me because even in the party primary debates the super delegates were working to undermine democracy. Specifically how the delegates within the DNC in multiple states voted for Hilary Clinton even though Bernie Sanders won their constituency's popular vote. In my mind, when it comes to presidential elections representatives should not vote against their constituency wishes because it contributes to voter disenfranchisement and makes people feel as if their vote did not matter. So in that sense, yes I do believe that the electoral college is an outdated system.

    ReplyDelete
  4. KaitlynAndersonSeptember 23, 2019 at 8:07 PM

    This was a great post. I really like that you focused on talking about some facts of the electoral college that are not widely talked about. I did not know that districts like the District of Colombia and Puerto Rico do not have very much representation in elections until we discussed it in class and until reading your post. I also think that it is very interesting that the electors can chose to vote in the opposite way. I haven't heard of that happening very often, so I wonder how common it really is. I can see it becoming more common as our country and elections become more partisan and polarized.

    ReplyDelete
  5. LauraSeptember 25, 2019 at 7:54 AM

    Ciarra, you made many great points in this post. I like that you emphasized how electorates are do not always delegate the vote of their state. This appears to be a very common misconception. I personally do think the electoral college is outdated. It is bizarre to me that a candidate could win the popular vote, but not the actual presidential seat. For that reason being, I believe we eliminate the system, however, that is not likely to happen anytime within the near future.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Eric KrawczykSeptember 26, 2019 at 12:36 AM

    You did a great job discussing some facts about the electoral college that perhaps everyone may not know. I also thought you brought up an interesting point when discussing U.S territories. For a long time, this has been a trend in the United States History and I find it interesting that it is still relevant today. I also enjoyed how you brought up the popular vote. All in all this blog post will become increasingly more relevant as we approach the 2020 election.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Rylie MacLaughlinOctober 23, 2019 at 8:06 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete

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