In this column from the American Election Mail, our journalists answer questions from our readers. To subscribe, click here.
How are the electors chosen? – Adélard Guillemette
Why not do away with the electoral college, a system that is completely undemocratic, in my opinion? – Terry O’Grady
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Contrary to popular belief, the American president is not elected by popular vote. Instead, he is chosen by an electoral college, a system inherited from the Founding Fathers of the United States, who helped draft the U.S. Constitution in 1787.
“The founding fathers were not particularly in favor of democracy in the sense that we understand it today. They did not trust the people to make an informed choice. So we created this system where the electorate, at the time white male property owners, voted for people who, in turn, would come together to elect a president. It was a form of indirect suffrage,” explains Christophe Roy-Cloutier, deputy director of the Raoul Dandurand Chair’s Observatory on the United States.
538 electors
Almost 250 years later, the Electoral College is still in operation. It is made up of electors, who are appointed by the legislature of each state. There are 538 in total, chosen from members of civil society or the two main political parties. By law, you only need to be 18 years old to be appointed as an elector. Members of Congress and federal government officials are automatically excluded.
This is essentially an honorary position: the electors do not intervene in any other election or political activity.
Each state is entitled to a specific number of electors, which corresponds to the number of senators and representatives it sends to Congress, determined by its demographic weight. For example, Texas has 40 electors, since it has 38 representatives and 2 senators. A less populated state like Wyoming has only 3 (2 senators, 1 representative).
To become president, it is not enough to obtain the greatest number of votes. First of all, you must win the majority of the electors, or 270. Thus, in 2020, Joe Biden won after having the favor of 306 electors, against 232 for Donald Trump.
So American voters are not voting directly for a president. Technically, they are instead voting for a slate of electors who are committed to voting for a candidate.
Their watchword is to respect popular suffrage in their state, according to the formula of “ winner takes all “The candidate who wins the majority of votes in a state is awarded the vote of all of that state’s electors. So even if Donald Trump won Florida by a single vote this November, he would still win the vote of all 30 electors in the Sunshine State. The exceptions to this formula are Nebraska and Maine, which distribute their electors proportionally based on the results of the election.
In the days following the presidential election, electors gather in their state capitals to vote for a president and vice president. Their votes will be announced on January 6, during a session of Congress.
While the electoral vote is usually a formality, in the past some electors have deviated from the rule that they vote for the leading candidate in their state, but this has never affected the outcome of the election.
Distortion of the vote
This system is often criticized for the distortions it causes. Four times in American history, the presidential election has been won by the candidate who finished second in the popular vote.
This was the case in the 2016 election, won by Donald Trump. The Republican candidate obtained 306 electors, but 3 million votes fewer than his rival, Hillary Clinton, who won only 232 electors.
The same thing happened in 2000, when George W. Bush defeated Al Gore.
The electoral college also gives disproportionate importance to the “ swing states “, those states that, thanks to an election, can pass from one camp to the other. The most populous states, like New York and California, are ignored by the presidential candidates since their votes are already assured to the Democratic Party before the campaign even begins.
“We’re much more likely to see a presidential candidate in Manchester, New Hampshire, or Carson City, Nevada, than in Los Angeles, New York, or even Texas. The Electoral College marginalizes a lot of voters, especially since the number of swing states seems to decrease from one election cycle to the next,” Roy-Cloutier said.
The current system also harms third parties and favors two-partyism, according to the political scientist.
“Because it’s a system that favors parties that are able to finish first in elections, because they’re the only ones that are going to get votes in the electoral college, it’s going to discourage voters from giving their vote to a third party, because it’s essentially a wasted vote.”
Tiny hopes for change
Calls for reform or even abolition of the Electoral College have been going on for a long time. It is estimated that more than 700 such proposals have been presented to Congress since 1800. All have failed.
Changing the system would require a constitutional amendment, which requires the approval of two-thirds of the members of each house of Congress and three-quarters of the members of the state assemblies. In the context of the extreme division that prevails in Washington, the adoption of such an amendment is a fantasy. Especially since the Electoral College benefits the two main American political parties.
“The Republican Party really needs the electoral college as it works right now to remain competitive,” says Roy-Cloutier. “Since 1992, it has won the popular vote ahead of the Democrats only once.” [2004]. And yet he won three elections in that period. That’s essential to his survival.”
Democrats also benefit from the situation because the electoral college system “reduces the competition that could come from other parties, such as the Green Party or, this year, the candidacy of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.”
The hopes for change therefore lie in a modification that would be made within the state legislatures, which would therefore be easier to achieve.
Currently, 17 states, plus the District of Columbia, have passed laws requiring their electoral votes to reflect the national popular vote.