[VIDEO] To set up for tomorrow's post which I will make live at 9:00 AM Tuesday, I will today share Mr. Beat's video from almost two years ago about his criticisms of the Electoral College.
While voters right now are voting early or by mail to cast their ballots or waiting until Election Day to make their choices for President of the United States know one thing. When we cast our ballot for President Donald Trump & his running mate Vice President Mike Pence or for former Vice President Joe Biden and his running mate US Senator Kamala Harris (D-Calif) and of course whatever other third party candidates that are on the ballot, we're actually voting for a slate of electors. That's true in other states also.
Usually when we vote for a Republican, Democrat or a third party the parties themselves will have a slate of electors who will actually cast their vote for President & Vice President. By convention and not law they will vote for their party's candidates. This doesn't always happen as the US Supreme Court had to settle the issue of "faithless electors" who choose not to vote for their pledged candidates for President & Vice President.
Either way people have been complaining about this system for years enshrined in our US Constitution. Illinois has current 20 votes - and since we're in a census year that can change. Those 20 electoral votes are a combination of our 18 congressional seats - and if this state loses enough population we might go down one congressional district - and our two US Senate seats. That's true for every state and the District of Columbia although they're represented in Congress by a single non-voting delegate in the US House of Representatives, however, they have three electoral votes as if they're represented by two US Senators.
Either way the argument you might have heard is that in support of the Electoral College is that if we went to full popular vote only certain regions or states will determine the next President of the United States. So they might frequently cite New York, Massachusetts or California where most likely candidates will have to campaign hardest in to win the election. Meanwhile they may ignore the rest of the country including god-forbid Illinois.
Another argument about the electoral college is from what happened in 2016 which I will also share with you from Mr. Beat. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence won the election over former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and US Senate Tim Kaine in the electoral college, however, Trump/Pence lost the popular vote to Clinton/Kaine. 2016 wasn't the first time this happened, you might remember something like this happened in 2000 with Bush vs. Gore and there was a whole Supreme Court case about that. Bush won in the electoral college ultimately, however, he lost the popular vote.
Which brings up another state, we have essentially 50 states & Washington, D.C. maintaining separate elections. So if you're concerned about some states getting ignored consider how President Trump won, he knew which states he could win vs those he probably couldn't. It surprised observers when he won Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. Those are shockers because they normally vote blue in Presidential elections and are referred to as part of the blue wall.
I also want you to note this isn't the first time I shared a video about the electoral college here.
Regardless, let's hear it from you. Is it time the United States of America ditch the electoral college? Do you think it remains relevant in presidential elections?
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