The Electoral College Explained (Atlanta: metro, average, weight)

[chiatldal]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

From where do you derive these statistics?

Math

1.California 55
2. Texas 38
3. New York 29
3. Florida 29
5. Illinois,20
6. Pennsylvania 20
7. Ohio 18
8. Georgia,16
9. Michigan 16
10. North Carolina 15
11. New Jersey 14

The 11 most populated states = 270

If someone won just the 11 most populated states and nothing of the other 39 they would win.

It doesn't actually give a voice to smaller states either.

[samiwas1]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

From where do you derive these statistics?

Let me Google that for you

I use easily obtainable numbers on how many electoral votes each state gets. The top 11 states combined have 270 electoral votes. That means there are 39 states and DC left.

While admittedly highly improbable, all it takes is for the highest number of people in those 11 states to vote for candidate A, and he wins. Even if the remaining people of those 11 states, and 100% of the people in the remaining 39 states vote for the other candidate B, candidate B will lose. In this example, fewer than 35% of the total vote coming from 20% of the states is enough to solidify a victory over someone who received 65% of the national vote and won 80% of the states (adjusted my percentages to fit actual population). That system is not ingenious, it's ****** stupid.

If you really got down to it in the most extreme measure possible, 11 people could counteract the votes of 100 million others.

And it's why most of the states are flat-out ignored during campaigning, with four states receiving almost 60% of all campaigning events, and 12 states receiving 94% of the events. Half of the states did not have a single campaign event. That's what the electoral system brings with it.

[bUU]

By all rights, the Fourteenth Amendment should have fixed this system. That was a sad omission.

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by chiatldal

Math

1.California 55
2. Texas 38
3. New York 29
3. Florida 29
5. Illinois,20
6. Pennsylvania 20
7. Ohio 18
8. Georgia,16
9. Michigan 16
10. North Carolina 15
11. New Jersey 14

The 11 most populated states = 270

If someone won just the 11 most populated states and nothing of the other 39 they would win.

It doesn't actually give a voice to smaller states either.

I really was referring to the scenario where a president would be elected by 25% of the voting population. The part of your argument involving electoral votes I understand.

[primaltech]

That above scenario would I guess be theoretically possible with a Democratic president, if it weren't for Texas. Very difficult to please California/NY, and Texas at the same time, since their population majorities want totally different things.

[chiatldal]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

I really was referring to the scenario where a president would be elected by 25% of the voting population. The part of your argument involving electoral votes I understand.

That's very unlikely cause those 11 states equal 183,095,167 which is over half the country.

How ever it is technically possible if those states had low turn out that only equal 25% of the voting, and the other 39 had a serge and equal 75%. That 75% wouldn't matter.

Because that 25% of votes would be in the 11 states equal that 270 electoral votes.

if just 10 people votes in California, and 4 million people voted in Tennessee.

That 10 Cali votes would be worth 55 electoral votes

The TN 4,000,000 votes would be worth 11 electoral votes.

But this scenario is obviously very unlikely, but yes it possible that a president could be elected by 25% of the voting population. Under the electoral collage it's that flawed.


So my point was not only it go against the popular vote but it doesn't actually give a voice to smaller states either. In the 1800 census no state was over a million and there wasn't that many states in general so it made sense. But Now with 50 states and basically super states. It ironically can exploited smaller states.

Early some one mention with out the electoral collage campaigns would only go to LA and NY, actually with out the electoral collage and the winner take all approach there would be no red or blue states. And campaigns would have to go to more ignore places. cause there is blue and red in every state.

[krogerDisco]

Originally Posted by chiatldal

Math

1.California 55
2. Texas 38
3. New York 29
3. Florida 29
5. Illinois,20
6. Pennsylvania 20
7. Ohio 18
8. Georgia,16
9. Michigan 16
10. North Carolina 15
11. New Jersey 14

The 11 most populated states = 270

If someone won just the 11 most populated states and nothing of the other 39 they would win.

It doesn't actually give a voice to smaller states either.

But percentagewise, with the electoral college, the smaller states have more weight.

Wyoming

Electoral/Total Electoral
3/538 * 100 = 0.56 %

Approx Pop/Total pop.
580000/220000000 * 100 = 0.26%

[bUU]

All these arguments just underscore how much simpler and more just things would be if the electoral college was done away with, or at the very least, if all states were forced to administer their EVs the way NE and ME do.

[krogerDisco]

Originally Posted by bUU

All these arguments just underscore how much simpler and more just things would be if the electoral college was done away with, or at the very least, if all states were forced to administer their EVs the way NE and ME do.

I have to admit, with the present system, it makes watching election night results much more interesting.

[Hokiehaven]

Originally Posted by bUU

All these arguments just underscore how much simpler and more just things would be if the electoral college was done away with, or at the very least, if all states were forced to administer their EVs the way NE and ME do.

That would be one way to help it more.

Sure small states get more play now with the EC, but if it were on population, it would probably make the primary process far more important, they need to be finding their constituencies in every state early to pull out the numbers more and really get a grassroots effort to win over every state's population with their people.

At the very least, it should go the way of NE and ME as said above.