Why is the 'Electoral College' so important in the US election?
The most talked about, controversial US presidential election is only a day away. The biggest question now is whether the White House will be handed over to a woman after 235 years, or whether Donald Trump will be coming to power for the second time. The answer to that question will be found tomorrow, Tuesday (November 5). But there is no guarantee that the candidate who receives the most votes will win. The reason is that voters do not directly elect the president. The US presidential election is held in a system called the 'Electoral College'.
What is the 'Electoral College'?
There are a total of 538 electors in the 50 states of America. 270 votes are needed to seize power. But many times, it is seen that a candidate loses in the end despite getting more popular votes. Two examples of this in recent history are the two Democratic candidates, Al Gore and Hillary Clinton, who lost in the 2000 and 2016 presidential elections in this way.
A candidate who wins a majority of the votes in a state wins all of the votes in that state. For example, California has 55 electoral votes. Kamala Harris or Donald Trump, whichever wins the most votes in that state, will win all 55 electoral votes in that state. On December 13, the electors will gather in the state capital to vote for their party's candidate. However, this stage of the election is purely ceremonial. The public vote on November 5 will determine whether the Republican or Democrat candidate wins.
How does the Electoral College work?
Each state has a number of electoral votes, roughly proportional to its population.
California has the most, 54, and states with very small populations, such as Wyoming, Alaska, and North Dakota (and Washington, D.C.), have at least three electoral votes.
States usually award their electoral votes to the candidate who wins the state's popular vote.
For example, if a candidate in California wins 50.1 percent of the state's popular vote, that candidate will receive all 40 electoral votes in that state. Even if the margin of victory in a state is large, the winning candidate will still receive that many electoral votes.
Reasons for the Electoral College Controversy
The main disadvantage of voting in the electoral system is that at times there is a difference between the public opinion of the whole country and the number of electors. As happened in 2016. That time, in terms of the popular vote, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton received 48.2 percent of the vote, and Republican candidate Donald Trump received 46.1 percent of the vote. In other words, Hillary lost the Electoral College vote despite receiving 2.1 percent more votes than Trump. He received 227 electoral votes, but Trump received 304. Trump was able to capture the White House only because Republican strongholds like Texas and swing states like Pennsylvania and North Carolina, which had large electoral votes, went to Trump.
George W. Bush defeated Al Gore in 2000, although his margin of victory in the popular vote was more than half a million. Before those two, only three other people have been elected president of the United States without winning the popular vote. But those were events of the 19th century.
Since each state has a different number of votes, candidates plan their election campaigns in such a way that they prioritize the states with the most votes.
What could happen this time
Opinion polls say that Kamala Harris is going to have a tough fight with Trump. But according to election analysts, Trump is ahead in the Electoral College vote. Nevada, Arizona, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, Wisconsin—these “uncertain” states will decide whether Trump returns to the White House or not.
Although the presidential election is on November 5, early voting has begun in America since October 27. Already, more than 8 crore voters in the country have exercised their democratic rights. The number of eligible citizens in America is more than 23 crores. The number of registered voters in this election is about 16 crores. The voter turnout in the last 2020 election was 66 percent, which was the highest in the last century. That time, about 10 crore votes were cast in advance.