How Americaelects their president

 

A new report shows Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton running aclose race in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania.The report from QuinnipiacUniversity was considered important news, even though it described voteropinions in just three of the 50 U.S. states. The reason? Because how peoplevote in those three states could decide who becomes president.“The American presidential election is nowcentered on a shrinking number of battleground states to decide the winner,” said Eric Ostermeier, a political scientist at the University ofMinnesota.These battleground states are also called “swingstates,” meaning that sometimes their voters choose aDemocratic candidate and sometimes a Republican.The media focus so much onthese states because of how Americans elect their president.Americans go thepolls to vote for president on November 8, but the candidate with the mostvotes does not automatically win. The winner is decided by the 538 members ofthe Electoral College.The Electoral College does not have any students orteachers. Instead, it is a group of people who represent their states in theU.S. presidential contest.Each state has the same number of members in theElectoral College that they have representatives in Congress. That number isdecided by the state’s population.States with thesmallest number, including Alaska and Vermont, have three members of theElectoral College. The state with the largest number, California, has 55.TheU.S. Constitution, which established the Electoral College system, does notrequire members of the Electoral College to vote for the candidate who won thepopular vote in their states. But they almost always do.As a result, in moststates, candidates do not benefit more by winning a larger percentage of thepopular vote. So, if 99 percent of voters in California select Hillary Clinton,she will receive all of California’s 55 votes in theElectoral College. If only 51 percent of voters in California select HillaryClinton, she will still receive all of California’s 55Electoral College votes. In all but two states, whether they win by 1 percentor 20 percent, candidates still get the same number of Electoral Collegevotes.The Electoral College system means that Donald Trump, the likely Republicancandidate, and Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic candidate, will notcampaign in states where they think they already know who will win.For example,Donald Trump will probably take Alaska, Idaho, and seven other states.Republicans presidential candidates there have won every election since1968.Hillary Clinton will probably carry Minnesota, New York, and the other sixstates that voted for every Democratic presidential candidate since 1988.NormOrnstein, the government and political expert at the American EnterpriseInstitute, said voting trends show only nine states with an uncertain winner in2016: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania,Virginia and Wisconsin.None is more important than Ohio. That state has votedfor every winning presidential candidate since 1964.As a result, Ohio receivesa lot of attention.Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, a Democrat, has represented theOhio city of Toledo since 1983. She talked about what it is like in Ohio a fewweeks before a presidential election day.“We get abarrage of television ads, radio ads, phone calls, people knocking on ourdoors, and lots of people coming to our state from other parts of the countryto campaign for their candidate,” Kaptur told VOA.DavidCohen is a political science professor at the University of Akron. He and otherresearchers found that the 2012 presidential candidates visited Ohio more thanany other state. But other states, including the largest, California and NewYork, get “almost completely ignored,” Cohen said.Because campaigns treat the states so differently, somepeople argue to end the Electoral College. They want the U.S. to elect itspresident based on the candidate who earns the most votes across the country.“Voters currently living and voting in a red (Republican) or blue(Democratic) state are disenfranchised, because their vote doesn't matter,” read a petition on the Moveon.org website.But changing the Americansystem to a popular vote would require changing the U.S. Constitution. That processis not easy.Norm Ornstein, the American Enterprise Institute expert, points outthat changing to a popular vote would also take away a reason for candidates tocampaign in smaller states.And he worries that all 50 states would fight torecount their votes in a close election.One such recount happened in Florida in2000. The media first reported that Democrat Al Gore won the race there. Then,reporters said that Republican George W. Bush won. Later, they said the votewas too close to call.Florida officials spent several weeks recounting thevotes. The U.S. Supreme Court made a 5-4 decision to stop the recount.In theend, Florida’s Electoral College votes went to Bush.Those votes were enough to give him the presidency over Democrat Gore, thoughGore won 500,000 more votes nationally than Bush.The 2000 election was one ofonly four U.S. elections when the Electoral Vote did not match the popularvote. The other times happened in the 1800s.In one contest, neither candidateearned the required number of Electoral College votes. The House ofRepresentatives chose the winner.In the other two contests, one candidate wasvery popular with voters in a few states. But he lost to the candidate withmore national appeal.I’m Bruce Alpert.

A new report shows Donald Trump and Hillary Clintonrunning a close race in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania.The report fromQuinnipiac University was considered important news, even though it describedvoter opinions in just three of the 50 U.S. states. The reason? Because howpeople vote in those three states could decide who becomes president.“The American presidential election is nowcentered on a shrinking number of battleground states to decide the winner,” said Eric Ostermeier, a political scientist at the University ofMinnesota.These battleground states are also called “swingstates,” meaning that sometimes their voters choose aDemocratic candidate and sometimes a Republican.The media focus so much onthese states because of how Americans elect their president.Americans go thepolls to vote for president on November 8, but the candidate with the mostvotes does not automatically win. The winner is decided by the 538 members ofthe Electoral College.The Electoral College does not have any students orteachers. Instead, it is a group of people who represent their states in theU.S. presidential contest.Each state has the same number of members in theElectoral College that they have representatives in Congress. That number isdecided by the state’s population.States with the smallestnumber, including Alaska and Vermont, have three members of the ElectoralCollege. The state with the largest number, California, has 55.The U.S.Constitution, which established the Electoral College system, does not requiremembers of the Electoral College to vote for the candidate who won the popularvote in their states. But they almost always do.As a result, in most states,candidates do not benefit more by winning a larger percentage of the popularvote. So, if 99 percent of voters in California select Hillary Clinton, shewill receive all of California’s 55 votes in theElectoral College. If only 51 percent of voters in California select HillaryClinton, she will still receive all of California’s 55Electoral College votes. In all but two states, whether they win by 1 percentor 20 percent, candidates still get the same number of Electoral Collegevotes.The Electoral College system means that Donald Trump, the likelyRepublican candidate, and Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic candidate,will not campaign in states where they think they already know who will win.Forexample, Donald Trump will probably take Alaska, Idaho, and seven other states.Republicans presidential candidates there have won every election since1968.Hillary Clinton will probably carry Minnesota, New York, and the other sixstates that voted for every Democratic presidential candidate since 1988.NormOrnstein, the government and political expert at the American EnterpriseInstitute, said voting trends show only nine states with an uncertain winner in2016: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania,Virginia and Wisconsin.None is more important than Ohio. That state has votedfor every winning presidential candidate since 1964.As a result, Ohio receivesa lot of attention.Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, a Democrat, has represented theOhio city of Toledo since 1983. She talked about what it is like in Ohio a fewweeks before a presidential election day.“We get abarrage of television ads, radio ads, phone calls, people knocking on ourdoors, and lots of people coming to our state from other parts of the countryto campaign for their candidate,” Kaptur told VOA.DavidCohen is a political science professor at the University of Akron. He and otherresearchers found that the 2012 presidential candidates visited Ohio more thanany other state. But other states, including the largest, California and NewYork, get “almost completely ignored,” Cohen said.Because campaigns treat the states so differently, somepeople argue to end the Electoral College. They want the U.S. to elect itspresident based on the candidate who earns the most votes across the country.“Voters currently living and voting in a red (Republican) or blue(Democratic) state are disenfranchised, because their vote doesn't matter,” read a petition on the Moveon.org website.But changing the Americansystem to a popular vote would require changing the U.S. Constitution. Thatprocess is not easy.Norm Ornstein, the American Enterprise Institute expert,points out that changing to a popular vote would also take away a reason forcandidates to campaign in smaller states.And he worries that all 50 stateswould fight to recount their votes in a close election.One such recounthappened in Florida in 2000. The media first reported that Democrat Al Gore wonthe race there. Then, reporters said that Republican George W. Bush won. Later,they said the vote was too close to call.Florida officials spent several weeksrecounting the votes. The U.S. Supreme Court made a 5-4 decision to stop therecount.In the end, Florida’s Electoral College voteswent to Bush. Those votes were enough to give him the presidency over DemocratGore, though Gore won 500,000 more votes nationally than Bush.The 2000 electionwas one of only four U.S. elections when the Electoral Vote did not match thepopular vote. The other times happened in the 1800s.In one contest, neithercandidate earned the required number of Electoral College votes. The House ofRepresentatives chose the winner.In the other two contests, one candidate wasvery popular with voters in a few states. But he lost to the candidate withmore national appeal.I’m Bruce Alpert.