Sydney Johnson
Donald Trump’s re-election brought the current US electoral voting process back into the limelight. Many Americans were divided by his 2024 win and stand conflicted on whether the electoral college is outdated and unfair.
The popular vote during a US election is the total number of votes cast by individuals in each state. However, this does not determine the result of a US presidential race, the electoral vote does.
During the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by two percent. Despite this, Trump won the election with 306 electoral college votes against Clinton, who received 232.
In 2024, Trump won both the popular and electoral vote against Kamala Harris. While the popular vote margin was close, Trump won the election with 312 electoral votes.
These results serve as a stark reminder of how complicated the electoral voting process is.
HISTORY OF THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE
In 1787, framers at the Constitutional Convention discussed how states could be fairly represented during a US election, giving birth to the electoral college.
Southern states had larger populations, but this included enslaved Black people who didn’t have the right to vote. While the northern states had smaller populations with more people who were eligible to vote.
“Slavery was an economic and political force”
In an effort to create a government with a fair voting process, no matter the size of a state, framers established that an enslaved person would count for three-fifths of a person during an election. At the time, slavery was an economic and political force and this led to elections where southern states had the upper hand.
In 1870, the 15th Amendment of the US Constitution gave Black men the right to vote. Despite this, racist efforts such as poll taxes and literacy tests were established to prevent them from voting.
In 1969, Congress made an almost successful attempt at removing the electoral college. While it was passed by the House of Representatives, southern senators blocked it.
IMPACT OF THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE
Similar to the 2016 election, Republican candidate George W. Bush won the 2000 election by 271 electoral votes despite losing the popular vote to the Democratic candidate, Al Gore. This loss led to a Supreme Court decision for a recount in Florida, a battleground state in the race.
‘Battleground states’ or ‘swing states’ can potentially be won by either of the leading parties, and are usually won by a small margin of votes.
This level of uncertainty over which states will turn from red to blue or vice versa leaves Americans on the edge of their seats during every election. In last year’s election, states like Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan and Pennsylvania were flipped from blue states to red.
“63 percent prefer the popular vote.”
Many Americans have petitioned for the removal of the electoral college, and even 63 percent of those surveyed by the Pew Research Center in September 2024, prefer the popular vote and want to change the system.
The majority of both liberal and conservative Democrats who were surveyed, supported this change. On the other hand, Republicans’ ideological differences were more divided. 61 percent of moderate and liberal Republicans supported the change and 63 percent of conservative Republicans would prefer to keep the current system.
Only time will tell whether or not the current process will remain sustainable for the United State’s political future.
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Sydney Johnson
Hello! My name is Sydney and I am a junior content editor and freelance journalist. I'm a US-native and have a background communications, video production and marketing. I like to spend my free time reading, writing, traveling and trying new restaurants.