The Electoral College

Have you heard of the electoral college? If so, do you understand it? Raise your hand if you think electoral college plays Ohio St. in football this weekend. I jest of course. The electoral college is not an institution of higher learning, but an integral part of the American election process. I am teaching the electoral college to my students this week and I dare say they may understand it better than many adults who will be voting in 13 days.

Put as simply as I know how, the electoral college is a group of 538 people. These 538 people actually elect the President of the United States. Before you get in a tizzy and start thinking your vote doesn't matter, consider the following: each state is worth a certain number of electoral votes ranging from 3-55. The higher the population of the state, the higher the number of electoral votes that state is worth. Why 538 votes? The number of electoral votes is directly tied to the number of representatives a state has in congress. 435 Representatives from the House of Representatives. 100 Senators. Washington DC gets 3 electoral votes. 435+100+3=538. And by the way, the number of congressional reps in a state is directly tied to its population. Whichever candidate wins the popular vote within that state, receives that state's electoral votes. That's where your vote counts. That's why it matters. Since you want the candidate you support to win your states electoral votes. This is a point I had to teach my own mother. I'm not making fun of her... just sayin' even intelligent voters may not understand it. Make sense so far?

In the electoral college, the magic number is 270. The candidate that receives 270 (or more) electoral votes wins the Presidency. And to make matters a little more confusing, it is possible (and has happened on several occasions) for a candidate to win the overall national popular vote, but lose the election because the other candidate received more electoral votes.

Where did the electoral college come from? Glad you asked! The founding fathers wanted Congress to elect the President. Others wanted the general public (voters) to elect the President. The electoral college is the compromise established in the early days of our nation by those opposing sides and the the system still exists today.

Whether you support Romney or Obama, keep a close eye on those electoral votes on November 6th. It's a race to 270!

On a final note... it is possible to tie 269-269 in the electoral college. The tie breaker system is complicated enough to give me a migraine. That's a post for another day. A post I pray don't have to make.