EXPLAINER
Within the US, presidential elections are determined by a state-based vote allocation system. Right here’s what it’s good to know.
It’s on the coronary heart of how presidential elections in america are determined. However for a lot of, the Electoral Faculty is a thriller, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in an enigma.
It doesn’t should be complicated, although.
To grasp the Electoral Faculty system, you first should know that US presidents aren’t elected by the nationwide in style vote: the overall variety of votes every candidate receives.
As a substitute, a gaggle of 538 so-called “electors” choose the president. These electors make up the Electoral Faculty.
So who’re these electors?
Earlier than the election, the political events in every state select a slate of electors: actual individuals who finally forged a vote for the president. Fairly often, the electors are occasion officers or supporters.
Every state will get the identical variety of electors because it has representatives within the US Home of Representatives and the US Senate.
For instance, Michigan will get 15 Electoral Faculty votes. That corresponds to the 2 senators and 13 Home members that characterize the state in Congress.
Now that we all know who these electors are and what number of characterize every state, how are their votes allotted? Right here’s the place it will get enjoyable.
In practically all of the states throughout the US, the presidential candidate who will get probably the most votes wins all that state’s electors: It’s a winner-takes-all system. Even when a candidate wins a state narrowly, they nonetheless get all of the electors.
The outliers are Maine and Nebraska, which allocate their electors primarily based on a extra sophisticated system that displays the favored vote on the state and congressional district ranges.
The District of Columbia — which isn’t a state however encompasses the nation’s capital — additionally will get three Electoral Faculty votes.
However right here is a very powerful half: To win the White Home, a presidential candidate should win the assist of a majority of the electors.
So out of a complete of 538 Electoral Faculty votes, they want a minimum of 270 to win.
The electors finally forged their votes in December, a few month after the election.
Their votes are then licensed by Congress in early January, when the president is confirmed and takes workplace.
So what does this all imply?
Successfully, to win the US presidency, a candidate has to win assist in sufficient key states to succeed in that magic Electoral Faculty variety of 270.
Beneath this method, a candidate who wins the favored vote — probably the most votes in whole throughout the US — might not truly win the White Home.
One current instance got here in 2016, when Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton gained the favored vote however misplaced the election to Republican Donald Trump. His victory was buoyed by wins in states like Florida and Pennsylvania, every of which supplied a minimum of 20 Electoral Faculty votes.
The Electoral Faculty system was designed, in impact, to make sure the political energy of the states.
Some Individuals say the Electoral Faculty ought to be scrapped in favour of the favored vote. Others argue the system ensures extremely populated states don’t overshadow smaller ones, thereby encouraging minority illustration in US democracy.
