The Electoral College Method of Selecting Our President Is Still a Mystery to Many of Us

How it works!

Each state is allocated ‘Electors’ (persons who actually cast the final vote for president), one for each congressional district and one for each senator. Most of the states mandate that the party that wins the popular vote within their state is allocated the right to select the person to so vote. Thus, the party then allocates the right to the party’s nominee for each congressional district, whether they win or lose. So, when I, as nominee for my party lost the general election, I was entitled to select the person to vote for president.

Most states follow this methodology. So why does the election boil down to what is called “the battleground states”? Each party estimates the outcome of each state. For example, California may poll at 60% Democratic while Texas may poll at 60% Republican. As each state is evaluated, the emphasis becomes the last few states that will push the candidate over the number of 270. In recent years, these states were Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, Virginia. This year, Michigan and Wisconsin came into play.

As result, minimal campaigning is done outside the battleground states. Will it change? If so, how?

The National Popular Vote coalition consists of states that have already agreed to cast the states electoral votes for the winner of the popular vote, not the winner of the state’s vote. This agreement takes effect once there are states totaling 270 have come on board. Eleven states with a total of 165 electoral votes are now committed to doing so. Another twelve states have partial approval within their legislative branches.

If another state having 105 electoral votes come on board, the game will change and the convoluted electoral college will become obsolete.