One reasons for America’s success is the Electoral College, the mostly behind-the-scenes and often misunderstood system for electing the President of the United States.
The Electoral College is, to be exact, the group of representatives (Electors) chosen in each state to cast the official ballots (electoral votes) for President.
Each state gets as many Electors as it has members of the U.S. House and Senate—the same voice in choosing the president as it has in Congress. You can use the drop down States menu above to see how many Electors each state has (the number in parenthesis).
Before the presidential election, each political party nominates Electors who promise that they will cast electoral votes for that party’s presidential candidate. When citizens vote in a presidential election, we are really voting for our candidate’s Electors—if our candidate wins in our state, those Electors will represent us in the Electoral College and vote for our candidate. Read the posts below to learn more about the Electoral College and why it turns out to work so well.
I recently had the opportunity to speak with Charlottesville, VA’s Rob Schilling on The Schilling Show. We covered topics like the difference between “democracy” and a “democratic republic”, why the Electoral College is a key component in preserving American liberty, and how NPV threatens to undo its benefits. You can listen here.
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The San Diego Union-Tribune recently hosted a debate about the Electoral College. The debate can be found here.
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It is several months old, but a recent paper by Bradley A. Smith, former Chairman of the Federal Election Commission, is well worth reading: Vanity of Vanities: National Popular Vote and the Electoral College. Smith reviews “Every Vote Equal: A State-Based Plan for Electing the President by National Popular Vote,” the 600-page treatise supporting...
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As Colorado prepares to debate the Koza scheme, I wrote the following editorial. It appeared in the April 20th edition of the Denver Daily News and is available on the Independence Institute Web site. If National Popular Vote wins, we lose By Amy Oliver This week the Colorado Senate will debate the relevance of...
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A common public view of the Electoral College seems to be, “I don’t understand it so it must be wrong.” Witness the following from a letter to Seattle’s only remaining news daily. … it is time to come into the 21st century. There is no place in today’s society for 200-year-old practices. Here is...
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This website offers information about the serious flaws of so-called “National Popular Vote” legislation and the benefits of our current Electoral College system. Welcome!
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In 2008, Professors Gary Gregg (University of Louisville) and Burdett Loomis (Kansas University) debated the Electoral College at the Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Electoral College Debate (1 of 8) TitleElectoral College Debate (1 of 8) Runtime9:30 View count3,351 TitleElectoral College Debate (2 of 8) Runtime9:35 View count2,008 TitleElectoral College...
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