I have stated before that when it comes to voting for president that I feel my vote doesn’t count. And in a presidential vote it really doesn’t. If we take a look back to the 2000 vote, you can see that the popular vote went one way and the Electoral College went the other. Here are the numbers:
Bush 47.87% of the popular vote, 50.37% of the Electoral College.
Gore 48.38% of the popular vote, 49.44% of the Electoral College.
Nader, Buchanan and Browne made up the remainder of the popular vote with 2.73%, 0.43% and 0.36% respectively.
If you don’t believe me here is the link:
http://www.usconstitution.net/elections.html#2000
So what does that mean? If I am reading this correctly, then the people (popular vote) went to Gore, but the Electoral College went to Bush.
What is the Electoral College and why is it so important?
The Electoral College is a uniquely American institution, used for over 200 years to select our President. The Framers of the Constitution were wary of giving the people the power to directly elect the President — some felt the citizenry too beholden to local interests, too easily duped by promises or shenanigans, or simply because a national election, in the time of oil lamps and quill pens, was just impractical. The Electoral College insulates the election of the President from the people by having the people elect not the person of the President, but the person of an Elector who is pledged to vote for a specific person for President.
Today, Electors are chosen by popular election, but the Constitution does not mandate a popular election. Electors could be appointed by a state's legislature, or the legislature could empower the governor to choose electors. (That sounds almost like it could be illegal!!!)
But in most cases it comes down to who you vote for in the campaigns for the Electoral College seats. And who are they? They are Senators and those in the House of Representatives. Currently Wisconsin has 10, and for my friends in Minnesota they have 10 as well.
Is the 2000 election anything special? Not really, in 1824 John Quincy Adams was elected President by the House after every candidate failed to get a majority of the Electoral Vote. Here are those numbers:
John Quincy Adams 30.92% of the popular vote, 32.18% of the Electoral College.
Andrew Jackson 41.36% of the popular vote, 37.93% of the Electoral College.
William Crawford 11.21% of the popular vote, 15.71% of the Electoral College.
Henry Clay 12.99% of the popular vote, 14.18% of the Electoral College.
A quick analysis of this vote shows that Andrew Jackson had more of both the popular and Electoral College vote, but because no one had the majority of the Electoral Vote, the House of Representatives voted, and the winner of that was John Quincy Adams. It looks to me that Andrew Jackson got screwed.
Today, Electors are chosen by popular election, but the Constitution does not mandate a popular election. Electors could be appointed by a state's legislature, or the legislature could empower the governor to choose electors. (That sounds almost like it could be illegal!!!)
But in most cases it comes down to who you vote for in the campaigns for the Electoral College seats. And who are they? They are Senators and those in the House of Representatives. Currently Wisconsin has 10, and for my friends in Minnesota they have 10 as well.
Is the 2000 election anything special? Not really, in 1824 John Quincy Adams was elected President by the House after every candidate failed to get a majority of the Electoral Vote. Here are those numbers:
John Quincy Adams 30.92% of the popular vote, 32.18% of the Electoral College.
Andrew Jackson 41.36% of the popular vote, 37.93% of the Electoral College.
William Crawford 11.21% of the popular vote, 15.71% of the Electoral College.
Henry Clay 12.99% of the popular vote, 14.18% of the Electoral College.
A quick analysis of this vote shows that Andrew Jackson had more of both the popular and Electoral College vote, but because no one had the majority of the Electoral Vote, the House of Representatives voted, and the winner of that was John Quincy Adams. It looks to me that Andrew Jackson got screwed.
While we are at it, what is the majority of the Electoral Vote? That would be one more than half of all Electoral College votes. Currently we have 538 Electoral Votes, half would be 269, to be declared winner of the presidential election (today) you must have 270. How is that for Democracy? Are you feeling better or worse?
In 1876, Rutherford Hayes won by taking 47.92% of the popular vote, 50.14% of the Electoral College. While Samuel Tilden had 50.92% of the popular vote, 49.86% of the Electoral College.
In 1888, Benjamin Harrison won with 47.80% of the popular vote, 58.10% of the Electoral College. While Grover Cleveland had 48.63% of the popular vote, but only 41.90% of the Electoral College.
So what do you think about your vote on Election Day now?
Here is some trivia as if the last couple paragraphs weren’t enough for you.
Which president recorded the largest percentage of the popular vote in any one election? In 1964, Lyndon Johnson had the largest percentage of the popular vote, 61.05%. That really doesn't seem like that much.
Along those same lines, which president recorded the largest percentage of the Electoral Vote in any one election? in 1936, Franklin Roosevelt was reelected after grabbing 98.49% of the Electoral College Vote. His percentage of the popular vote that election, 60.80%
Now does anyone else want me to talk more on politics? Anyone? Bueller?
In 1876, Rutherford Hayes won by taking 47.92% of the popular vote, 50.14% of the Electoral College. While Samuel Tilden had 50.92% of the popular vote, 49.86% of the Electoral College.
In 1888, Benjamin Harrison won with 47.80% of the popular vote, 58.10% of the Electoral College. While Grover Cleveland had 48.63% of the popular vote, but only 41.90% of the Electoral College.
So what do you think about your vote on Election Day now?
Here is some trivia as if the last couple paragraphs weren’t enough for you.
Which president recorded the largest percentage of the popular vote in any one election? In 1964, Lyndon Johnson had the largest percentage of the popular vote, 61.05%. That really doesn't seem like that much.
Along those same lines, which president recorded the largest percentage of the Electoral Vote in any one election? in 1936, Franklin Roosevelt was reelected after grabbing 98.49% of the Electoral College Vote. His percentage of the popular vote that election, 60.80%
Now does anyone else want me to talk more on politics? Anyone? Bueller?
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