The Misrepresentation of United States' Voters
By: Will Meister
The Electoral College
Every four years or so we hear the words "Electoral College" quite frequently. But what is the Electoral College? Well it is a system put in place to help represent states with smaller population in the presidential election. It accomplishes this by giving a certain number of "Electoral Votes" to be cast in an election to each state. Many people disagree with this rational for the system for the following reasons.
Ignoring the State Minority
The Electoral College means that the state minority is, ultimately, ignored. A republican in New York State's vote is usually worthless. This is due to the winner takes all system in place in most U.S. states. In the 2016 election 36.5% of people voted for Donald Trump, and 59% voted for Hillary Clinton. Of the 29 electoral votes, all went to Clinton. The 36.5% of voters who voted for Trump were ignored in the grand scheme of the election. If this were a representation of the people 11 votes should have gone to Trump. Similar examples happen in majority republican states for democrat voters. This effect that has falsely represented our population five times.
Voter Ratios
There is another misrepresentation of the people in the Electoral College as well. The number of electoral votes in small states in not proportional to the population of that state. All states must have four electoral votes. States like Wyoming have a voter to EV ratio of 194717:1, (Meaning 194717 people earn one EV). California has a voter to EV ratio of 713636.673:1. This means that a single person in Wyoming's vote is worth almost 3.6 times that of a Californian in the grand scheme of the election. Why is a person in Wyoming's vote more than people in other states? Its due to the low population in comparison to other states. In the past this system was to stop people from simply campaigning in high population areas like NYC and other major cities. Only nowadays we have the news and other media outlets to inform people about the candidates. It does not seem to matter where a candidate campaigns, as there is always a way for people to obtain information about the candidates. As Gene Green put "The Electoral College was necessary when communications were poor, literacy was low, and voters lacked information about out-of-state figures, which is clearly no longer the case."
Faithless Voters
People say that the electoral college, even if only the majority, still represents the people. Well, in 24 states there are votes controlled by "Faithless Electors". These people don’t even have to vote for the majority in their state. In fact, 80 times these electors have voted against the majority. So even if you vote for the majority its not definite that your vote will be given to the candidate you chose.
External Variables
Walter Hickey said, "The electoral college also localizes mistakes and problems. If it rains on election day, turnout is low. If there's no Senate race, turnout is low. Why should a state with precipitation have less say than a perpetually sunny locale?". While this is true, this still impacts us with the electoral college. Scenarios that cause voters to not vote skew the election. For example, if it rains on a democratic district, republicans have more of a say in that state. Not only would the democratic vote not be cast, but their vote would be assumed republican instead of being simply not cast. Here are some hypothetical numbers. Say in the non-existent state of,
(50 Republican voters, 50 Democrat), democrats tend to live in the northern half, republicans tend to live in the south. It rains in the south, discouraging 25 republicans and 6 democrats from voting. This leaves 25 Republican voters, and 44 Democratic voters. With the Electoral College this scenario would result in 3 electoral votes (100% of the states power going to democrats). Without the Electoral College, 25% of the states power goes to the Republican Party. 44% goes to the Democrat Party. Instead of the 50% inaccuracy of the population, 31% is a more accurate alternative. Without the Electoral College, the minority that didn’t vote isn't simply assumed to the majority, and the voting minority isn't penalized.
This system is outdated and misrepresents the population of American voters. For these reasons the credibility of the Electoral College should be questioned and further analyzed. For it is under this system that the majority of American's opinions can be acted against.
Every four years or so we hear the words "Electoral College" quite frequently. But what is the Electoral College? Well it is a system put in place to help represent states with smaller population in the presidential election. It accomplishes this by giving a certain number of "Electoral Votes" to be cast in an election to each state. Many people disagree with this rational for the system for the following reasons.
Ignoring the State Minority
The Electoral College means that the state minority is, ultimately, ignored. A republican in New York State's vote is usually worthless. This is due to the winner takes all system in place in most U.S. states. In the 2016 election 36.5% of people voted for Donald Trump, and 59% voted for Hillary Clinton. Of the 29 electoral votes, all went to Clinton. The 36.5% of voters who voted for Trump were ignored in the grand scheme of the election. If this were a representation of the people 11 votes should have gone to Trump. Similar examples happen in majority republican states for democrat voters. This effect that has falsely represented our population five times.
Voter Ratios
There is another misrepresentation of the people in the Electoral College as well. The number of electoral votes in small states in not proportional to the population of that state. All states must have four electoral votes. States like Wyoming have a voter to EV ratio of 194717:1, (Meaning 194717 people earn one EV). California has a voter to EV ratio of 713636.673:1. This means that a single person in Wyoming's vote is worth almost 3.6 times that of a Californian in the grand scheme of the election. Why is a person in Wyoming's vote more than people in other states? Its due to the low population in comparison to other states. In the past this system was to stop people from simply campaigning in high population areas like NYC and other major cities. Only nowadays we have the news and other media outlets to inform people about the candidates. It does not seem to matter where a candidate campaigns, as there is always a way for people to obtain information about the candidates. As Gene Green put "The Electoral College was necessary when communications were poor, literacy was low, and voters lacked information about out-of-state figures, which is clearly no longer the case."
Faithless Voters
People say that the electoral college, even if only the majority, still represents the people. Well, in 24 states there are votes controlled by "Faithless Electors". These people don’t even have to vote for the majority in their state. In fact, 80 times these electors have voted against the majority. So even if you vote for the majority its not definite that your vote will be given to the candidate you chose.
External Variables
Walter Hickey said, "The electoral college also localizes mistakes and problems. If it rains on election day, turnout is low. If there's no Senate race, turnout is low. Why should a state with precipitation have less say than a perpetually sunny locale?". While this is true, this still impacts us with the electoral college. Scenarios that cause voters to not vote skew the election. For example, if it rains on a democratic district, republicans have more of a say in that state. Not only would the democratic vote not be cast, but their vote would be assumed republican instead of being simply not cast. Here are some hypothetical numbers. Say in the non-existent state of,
(50 Republican voters, 50 Democrat), democrats tend to live in the northern half, republicans tend to live in the south. It rains in the south, discouraging 25 republicans and 6 democrats from voting. This leaves 25 Republican voters, and 44 Democratic voters. With the Electoral College this scenario would result in 3 electoral votes (100% of the states power going to democrats). Without the Electoral College, 25% of the states power goes to the Republican Party. 44% goes to the Democrat Party. Instead of the 50% inaccuracy of the population, 31% is a more accurate alternative. Without the Electoral College, the minority that didn’t vote isn't simply assumed to the majority, and the voting minority isn't penalized.
This system is outdated and misrepresents the population of American voters. For these reasons the credibility of the Electoral College should be questioned and further analyzed. For it is under this system that the majority of American's opinions can be acted against.