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The Electoral College is the system with which a president and vice president are elected in the United States. This has been in place since the promulgation of the country’s Constitution, but today it receives criticism because it allows a candidate to reach the White House without necessarily reflecting the popular vote. What is the Electoral College and how does it operate? Why is it still the only way to elect the highest position in the Executive?
On five occasions in the Republican history of the United States, whoever has reached the White House has not won the citizen vote. The last, in 2016, when Republican Donald Trump became the 45th president of that country. Why does this occur? Thanks to the Electoral College, the central theme of episode 6 of Road to the White House.
The Electoral College is not a place, it is the system that the United States uses to elect its president. and it’s a little more complicated than it seems. Instead of voters directly electing the president, which happens in many presidential democracies, what they do is vote for a group of electors who then cast the votes that will decide who reaches the White House.
Each state has a specific number of electors, which is based on its representation in Congress (i.e., the number of senators and representatives). That’s why larger states like California and Texas have more weight in the Electoral College, while smaller ones like Wyoming have less, but still count.
So how does it work? Voters elect electors in November and those electors meet in December to vote for the president. In most states, the winner of the popular vote in that state takes all the electoral votes.
However, there are a couple of exceptions in Maine and Nebraskawhere the votes are distributed proportionally. In the end, At least 270 electoral votes are needed to win the presidency.
History of the Electoral College
The idea behind the Electoral College arose centuries ago, when The founding fathers did not fully trust that the public had enough information to make the final decision about who should be president. They wanted a system that would give some balance between small and large states and also some extra control to prevent elections from being easily manipulated.
The system dates back to the Constitution of 1787which laid the foundations of the rules for presidential elections by indirect universal suffrage in a single vote.
The founding fathers considered it a middle ground between electing the president by direct universal suffrage or by Congress, considered undemocratic.
Hundreds of amendment proposals have been submitted to Congress over the decades to modify or abolish the Electoral College, but none have succeeded.
Nowadays, Many criticize this system because a candidate can win the popular vote (the total number of votes of the people) but lose the election if he doesn’t get enough electoral votes, which has already happened several times.
When does the electoral college meet?
Electors must meet in their states on December 17. US law stipulates that they “assemble and cast their votes the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December.”
On January 6, 2025, after all the votes are counted, Congress will solemnly announce the name of the president, which will be known much sooner.
Subscribe to Road to the White House! Available in Spotify, DeezerTune In, ApplePodcast and our website. An original podcast from France 24 in Spanish.
Presentation, script and research: Marta Moya and Julián Ramírez Castro
Editorial direction: Ángela Gutierrez and Fabián Cristancho
Editing, editing and post-production: Rodrigo Rodríguez de Loro podcast
Music: Audionetwork and RFI Instrumental
Graphic development: FMM graphic studio and Francia Cuesta
With AFP and independent media
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