It’s becoming a trend…well, ever since the 2000 election. All day, yesterday I saw posts on Facebook and heard people say, “My vote doesn’t count!” Or, “The electoral process is broken” in reference to the United States’ use of the Electoral College versus a popular vote. It is perceived that because a candidate MAY win the Electoral College but lose the “popular” vote that some voting injustice has taken place or that the system is broken. That is not true and in fact four five U.S. Presidents have won the Electoral College while failing to win the popular vote. A quick fact and then a quick explanation as to how your vote actually DOES count in the electoral college process:
FACT: We are not a democracy, we are a representative republic. A democracy utilizes a federal popular vote to decide elections, policies, etc. Our country is a collection of states (the United States) and as a republic we choose representatives that are supposed to make policies on behalf of the people within their states.
WHY YOUR VOTE MATTERS: First, democracy does not work and our founding fathers were very wise in understanding this. Democracy paves the way for mob rule. If elections were decided based on a federal popular vote, states that have a larger population like California and New York would have disproportionate influence and would essentially make all of the decisions for the entire country since they have larger populations. If the country was not a collection of states and was one group of people with identical laws governed by federal rulers, the larger populated areas would yield no greater power than another. For example: California has a population of 37.7 Million people and New Hampshire has 1.3 Million people, that is a huge difference when it comes to deciding important issues such as the presidency.
Second, your vote does matter! Your state utilizes a popular vote along with the electoral college. Whatever candidate wins the popular vote for your state wins the appointed electors. Each state has a specified number of electoral votes based on their population. This is why New York has 29 electors and Wyoming has 3. It’s not disproportionate for Wyoming voters, rather it is proportional for the number of citizens they have within their states population. Everyone says that the battleground states are what decide elections, but that’s only half true. If George W. Bush had not won West Virginia (5 votes) or New Hampshire (4 votes), he would not have won the Presidency in 2000.
RECAP: 1. A democracy would utilize a popular vote resulting in more votes from larger populated areas. Presidents and national issues would be decided by the larger populated states. Democracies are vulnerable to being hijacked by mob rule. Democracies cannot and do not work for a system built on state’s rights 2. A republic uses a representative system which allows those states to elect our President based on the population of that state. Those representatives vote based on the popularity vote of that state. Your vote matters in determining who your state casts their vote for. This system has worked for 236 years…in fact it worked this year with President Obama winning both the Electoral College and the Popular Vote…and it will continue to work in the future.
UPDATE: Donald Trump was just elected as the 45th President of the United States. He did so by winning the Electoral College 306 electors to 232 electors, but losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton (currently) 59,938,290 to 59,704,886. The narrative has once again hit news cycles and social media platforms complaining that the Electoral College system is broken, outdated, and needs to go away. Please save your time, it’s not going anywhere! This is the system of a representative republic. To maintain state’s rights, the electoral college isn’t going anywhere. Unless the country was fundamentally changed from a representative republic to a democracy, the electoral college isn’t going anywhere! Colorado loves their recreational marijuana and California loves their gun control. That is the beauty of state’s rights. It is what makes the United States unique and exceptional. My feeling is, the people who are sad, angry, and upset that Hillary Clinton lost and Donald Trump won are reviving this issue as a means to cope with their bad news. I do not write this in support or defense of President-elect Trump; I did not vote for him or Clinton and have a neutral voice. I write this for information and educational purposes. This is basic U.S. history and government facts. The electoral college is good and right for the United States. It’s not going anywhere.
