Deciphering the Electoral College, the system that elects the United States president.
By Dr. Michael Kryzanek | January 8, 2024
One of the more confusing structures of our constitution is the Electoral College. While most democracies in the world elect their chief executive by a majority of the popular vote, in the United States the process of electing our president is rather complex, and in some respects undemocratic. The founding fathers in developing the electoral process were concerned that a popular vote for the president would place too much power in the hands of the common people instead of the elites, who they felt could be counted on to make decisions and lead the country in a more “responsible,” and likely self-serving manner.
To achieve this goal, the election of the president was organized by popular votes within states with electoral votes allocated by the number of representatives in the House and two senators. For example, using today’s electoral college process, California has 54 electoral votes (52 representatives and two senators), while Massachusetts has 11 electoral votes (nine representatives and two senators). The total number of electoral votes for all 50 states plus the District of Columbia is 538, and a majority of those votes is 270. Therefore, when the election of the president (and the vice-president since they combine as one vote) is conducted, the president who wins individual states by popular vote and the electoral votes that accompany the votes linked to the state adds those votes to their total. When that total adds up to 270 or more, the president is declared the winner.
What this means is that our national presidential election is a state driven process — win the popular vote in as many states as possible that add up to 270 or more and victory is secured. By electing a president based on state electoral votes, the founding fathers were assured that the people would not control the outcome, but rather the states, especially the larger states like Virginia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and New York, where many of the monied and landed elites like Washington, Jefferson and Adams came from, gained control of the reins of government.
One of the more confusing structures of our constitution is the Electoral College. While most democracies in the world elect their chief executive by a majority of the popular vote, in the United States the process of electing our president is rather complex, and in some respects undemocratic. The founding fathers in developing the electoral process were concerned that a popular vote for the president would place too much power in the hands of the common people instead of the elites, who they felt could be counted on to make decisions and lead the country in a more “responsible,” and likely self-serving manner.
To achieve this goal, the election of the president was organized by popular votes within states with electoral votes allocated by the number of representatives in the House and two senators. For example, using today’s electoral college process, California has 54 electoral votes (52 representatives and two senators), while Massachusetts has 11 electoral votes (nine representatives and two senators). The total number of electoral votes for all 50 states plus the District of Columbia is 538, and a majority of those votes is 270. Therefore, when the election of the president (and the vice-president since they combine as one vote) is conducted, the president who wins individual states by popular vote and the electoral votes that accompany the votes linked to the state adds those votes to their total. When that total adds up to 270 or more, the president is declared the winner.