Why is the US president chosen by electors, not voters

Photo: depositphotos.com

The electoral system in the country is so complicated that even among Americans, not everyone understands it.

Presidential elections in America are indirect. Each state is awarded a certain number of electors. It is equal to the number of state representatives in Congress and is determined by the principle: the more people live in the state, the more electors are assigned to it. For example, most electors in California are 55, and in Wyoming and several other states their minimum number is only for 3. Total - 538 electors, all together they make up the Electoral College.

On election day, voters tick one of the presidential candidates, but, in fact, vote for the electors.

This is how it works in practice.

In November, the country holds general presidential elections, and in December the Electoral College gathers. In most states, electors vote according to how the majority of voters in their state voted.

Electors vote in their states on December 15, and in January Congress officially counts the results. The number of electoral delegates from each state equals the number of representatives of a given state in the US House of Representatives (which is determined by the state’s population according to the results of the US census conducted every 10 years) plus the Senator's 2. The District of Columbia, which is not a state and is not represented by voting delegates to the Congress, has 3 votes in the Electoral College.

In most states, electoral votes are awarded on the “winner takes all” principle.

A bunch of presidential candidates and vice-presidents, who won the majority of citizens' votes, gets all the votes of state electors. Two states - Nebraska and Maine - distribute electoral votes in proportion to citizens' voting results.

The strategy of presidential elections is to win in any combination of states, giving 270 votes to electors. Election results can be decided by electoral votes from a small number of states where competitive electoral races take place.

One consequence of the electoral college system “the winner takes it all” is that the candidate can win the most votes at the national level, but lose the election.

Suppose a candidate wins by a small margin a staff with many electoral votes. This candidate still gets all the votes of the electors. So if a candidate wins in California by a small margin, he gets all the 55 electoral votes of California. The same candidate can lose in other smaller states with a large margin and get fewer votes than his opponent.

But this candidate will still have an advantage in the Electoral College. Candidates need to run an election campaign in all states, even with a small population and fewer electoral votes, in order to get a total of 270 electoral votes.

Why do Americans keep the Electoral College?

It is provided by the US Constitution, and the Constitution is very difficult to change, writes Share America.

The electoral college also strengthens the 2-party system, and therefore the two main parties are unlikely to demand its cancellation.

But there are other reasons for keeping the Electoral College. Many Americans like the fact that the system of the Electoral College forces presidential candidates to campaign extensively - even in smaller states whose residents would otherwise not have a chance to meet the candidate face to face. And since the presidential candidate risks not gaining enough electoral votes if he focuses on only one state or region, he has to pay attention to issues of interest to voters in all regions of the country and participate in their discussion.

As a result, the electoral college system influences how presidential campaigns take place, which largely determines the cost of running a presidential campaign.

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