The Electoral College, explained

Summary

The video by Vox provides an in-depth explanation of the Electoral College, a unique system used to elect the President of the United States. Unlike most democracies where the head of state is chosen by popular vote, the U.S. employs the Electoral College, which can result in a candidate winning the presidency while losing the popular vote. The video delves into the historical reasons for its implementation, its influence on modern election campaigns, and the disparities it creates in voter power across states. Criticism and failed attempts to abolish the system are also discussed, highlighting its controversial legacy.

Highlights

• The U.S. is unique in using the Electoral College to elect presidents. 🌍
• Each state's electoral votes are based on its congressional representation. 🏛️
• Swing states draw major campaign attention due to their unpredictability. 🎯
• In 2016, Trump's campaign focused heavily on swing states like Florida. 🌞
• Historically, compromises like the three-fifths clause shaped the system. 📜

Key Takeaways

• The Electoral College often results in a president winning without the popular vote. 🗳️
• Swing states have enormous power, receiving most campaign attention. 🌊
• The system is historically rooted in compromising power between states. 🤝
• Disparities exist as some voters have more influence in the election due to state size. ⚖️
• Both attempts to abolish it have been historically blocked by those benefiting from it. 🔒

Overview

The U.S. Electoral College is a distinct mechanism for electing the president, setting America apart from other democracies that opt for a direct popular vote. This system is composed of delegates from each state, and its complexity is often a source of confusion and debate. By relying on state votes rather than the national popular vote, it can skew results, sometimes awarding the presidency to candidates who didn't win the majority of individual votes cast by Americans.

Swing states, with their potential to swing to either political party, have become the focal point of election campaigns. This means that states like Florida hold immense sway, influencing where candidates spend their time and resources. Such focus can sideline voters in states deemed 'safe' for one party or another, creating unequal voting power among the populace. Consequently, the system provides some states with a disproportionate influence over the outcome of presidential elections.

The Electoral College's roots can be traced back to the need for a compromise among the original states, including those with differing stances on slavery. This led to arrangements like the three-fifths compromise. Over time, various efforts have been made to abolish the Electoral College, but such initiatives often face significant opposition. Today, the debate continues, particularly as demographic shifts could alter the balance of power among states, keeping the conversation about electoral reform alive.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction to the Electoral College The chapter introduces the concept of the Electoral College in the United States, explaining how it differs from the popular vote systems used in most democracies worldwide. It highlights the importance of swing states in determining the outcome of presidential elections, contrasting with the less significant role of national polls. The chapter sets the stage for understanding why national polls may not accurately predict the winner of U.S. Presidential elections, focusing instead on the decisive factor of swing states.
• 00:30 - 02:00: How the Electoral College Works The chapter explains the unique process of how the United States elects its president using the Electoral College. It is mentioned that the Electoral College is composed of delegates from each U.S. state, and when Americans vote for president, they are actually casting votes for delegates who will then vote on behalf of their state. This can lead to situations where a candidate wins the presidency without winning the popular vote, a scenario that has happened twice in the past 20 years. It concludes by noting that the majority of Americans have long been dissatisfied with this system, and both political parties have expressed concerns about it.
• 02:00 - 03:30: Swing States and Their Impact The chapter delves into the electoral college system used in the United States, exploring why it persists despite attempts to abolish it and identifying the beneficiaries of the system. The electoral college is based on congressional representation, where states' number of representatives is population-based, alongside two senators per state. The example of Texas (with a large population) and Vermont (with a smaller population) is used to illustrate this system.
• 03:30 - 05:30: Historical Context and Compromises The chapter discusses the disparities in representation within the United States' electoral system. It highlights the imbalance where states like Vermont, with smaller populations, have the same level of Senate representation as larger states like Texas, despite the latter having a significantly larger population. The chapter emphasizes that in the Electoral College, representation combines both House and Senate members, leading to a delegate-to-population ratio that greatly varies between states. For example, one electoral delegate represents approximately three times the number of people in Texas compared to Vermont, showcasing the compromises made in historical political structures.
• 05:30 - 07:30: Modern-Day Implications and Criticisms This chapter discusses the disproportional influence of individual votes within the electoral college system. It highlights how a voter in Vermont has more influence than a voter in larger states like California or Wyoming. The chapter also mentions the 2016 presidential election results by state, emphasizing the importance of securing at least 270 electoral college votes to win the election. Criticisms regarding these disparities are implied as it challenges the value equality of each vote nationwide.
• 07:30 - 08:30: Closing Remarks The chapter discusses the common perception of electoral distribution in the United States, often depicted as a map of red and blue states. However, it is emphasized that no state is entirely red or blue. The method of awarding electoral votes is explained: the candidate receiving the most votes in a state secures all its electoral votes, regardless of the margin of victory. For example, despite over four million people voting for Donald Trump in California during the 2016 election, the state's winner-takes-all system granted all the electoral votes to the candidate with the majority.

The Electoral College, explained Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 if you watch the news during a presidential election you'll hear a lot of this what do the national polls look like hillary clinton's national league nationally joe biden is currently ahead but these national polls don't actually tell you who's going to win throw the national polls out the window they don't matter at all what matters are those swing states ah yes the swing states most democracies around the world elect their head of state with a popular vote so whoever gets the most votes wins but in america we do it a little differently
• 00:30 - 01:00 the u.s is the only country that picks its president using something called the electoral college it's made up of delegates from each u.s state when americans vote for president what they're actually voting for is who their state will vote for this is why every so often someone wins the presidency without winning the popular vote that's happened twice in just the past 20 years the majority of americans do not like the system and haven't for a long time both political parties have made
• 01:00 - 01:30 attempts to get rid of it so why does the u.s still use the electoral college and who actually benefits from it the electoral college is based on how people are represented in congress where each state has a number of representatives based on its population and every state also gets two senators so for example let's look at texas which has a huge population and vermont which has a really small one texas has 36
• 01:30 - 02:00 representatives in congress vermont only gets one representatives in both states each represent roughly the same number of people in the electoral college a state gets the same number of delegates as their congressional representatives plus two for each senator so texas has 38 electoral votes vermont has three but this combination makes the number of people each delegate represents way different between states in texas one electoral delegate represents three times the amount of
• 02:00 - 02:30 people as one in vermont and that makes each individual person's vote in vermont a lot more influential the electoral college creates discrepancies like this all over the country a voter in wyoming is worth three and a half times as much as a voter in california and the winner of the presidential election is the candidate who gets 270 or more of these electoral college votes [Music] these are the results of the 2016 election by state
• 02:30 - 03:00 you're probably more familiar with this version of it a map of red states and blue states but this chart tells a different story you can see that no state is actually all red or all blue but almost every state awards its electoral votes the same way the candidate who gets the most votes in a state gets all its electoral votes if they win the state by one percent they win a hundred percent of the electoral votes in 2016 more than four million people voted for donald trump in california in
• 03:00 - 03:30 fact more people voted for him there than in any other state except for two but it didn't matter hillary clinton got more votes there so she got all 55 of its electoral votes clinton never even campaigned in california polling showed she'd easily win the state trump only visited texas once he knew he'd basically had that state's electoral votes locked but they both visited florida 35 or more times that's because florida is usually a
• 03:30 - 04:00 swing state polls show that the vote there could swing to one party or another nearly every election trump only won it in 2016 by 100 000 votes out of more than 9 million swing seats have changed over time thanks to shifting demographics and political views and it's states like these where presidential candidates spend most of their time campaigning it also means these states have way more influence over the election than these ones a study found that voters in michigan
• 04:00 - 04:30 had 51 times the amount of influence on the 2016 election as someone from a state like utah voters in states like california or missouri mattered very little swing states are where the election actually takes place they get the attention and the influence and they only exist because of the electoral college it doesn't seem very fair but the electoral college has always shifted power away from some people and towards others it was how it was designed
• 04:30 - 05:00 back when there were just a few states not 50 they had to get all the states to agree on the constitution one problem the northern states which were largely anti-slavery wanted only free people to count in the population towards electoral votes which they had more of the pro-slavery southern states were worried that they would be constantly outvoted and wanted enslaved people to count in determining the population as a compromise they settled on something called the three-fist clause it established that an enslaved person
• 05:00 - 05:30 would only count as three-fifths of a person in 1800 pennsylvania northern state and virginia a southern one had about the same number of free people living there but virginia was also home to hundreds of thousands of enslaved people who had no freedom let alone a vote and ended up with more votes in the electoral college than pennsylvania that year those extra electoral votes gave the candidate from virginia just enough to win
• 05:30 - 06:00 even after the u.s finally abolished slavery and eventually gave black americans the right to vote white southern leaders found ways to keep them from voting like with discriminating laws like poll taxes and acts of violence this meant they continued to have over-representation in the electoral college on behalf of a large population that couldn't vote the first time congress attempted to replace the electoral college with a simple popular vote was back in 1816 but
• 06:00 - 06:30 senators from southern states blocked it saying it would be deeply injurious to them in 1969 congress came even closer replacing the electoral college had support in both parties and even passed the house but it was blocked again by southern senators a senator from alabama wrote the electoral college is one of the south's few remaining political safeguards let's keep it why change a system that historically had and still was benefiting white southerners
• 06:30 - 07:00 today the states that the electoral college benefits have changed but it's still making some voters more powerful than others if we look at the states with a lot of electoral votes for not a lot of people and the states with a little electoral votes for a lot of people these states are a lot wider and less diverse than the rest of america and many of these states are republican strongholds these tend to vote democratic that's one reason the two most recent republican presidents have won the electoral college without winning the
• 07:00 - 07:30 popular vote and since it's currently democrats that are primarily disadvantaged by the electoral college they're the ones leading the charge to replace it with a popular vote get rid of the electoral college but as politics have changed the people most critical of the electoral college have two in the 1948 presidential election new york ended up being the major swing state a congressman from texas said i have no objection to the negro and harlem voting but i do resent
• 07:30 - 08:00 the fact that his vote is worth a hundred times as much as the vote of a white man in texas swing states change what doesn't is that the electoral college gives certain people more power to pick the president and its biggest defenders have always been those who benefit the most from it [Music] thanks to absolute who sponsored this video to remind all americans to make the time to vote absolute doesn't
• 08:00 - 08:30 influence our editorial but they do make videos like this possible so drink responsibly and vote responsibly