Ever wonder how in heck the Americans manage to unscramble the results of a federal election? Let’s put it this way. It ain’t easy. Let me break it down for you, with help from the Associated Press.
“California certified its presidential election by appointing 55 electors pledged to vote for Democrat Joe Biden, officially handing him the Electoral College majority needed to win the White House.”
After the recent general election, attention turned to the Electoral College. It solidified whether a Democrat or Republican would become president – and vice president - of the U.S.A. for the next four years
The founding fathers set up the College system to balance the preference of the majority with that of the individual states. Those chosen from the House of Representatives, California with the largest population, has 55 electoral votes while smaller states, Wyoming, Delaware and Alaska have three votes each.
Take the 2016 US election where a total of the 538 electoral votes were available, with 270 needed to be elected. Donald Trump won 304 of these votes; Hilary Clinton coming in with 227 votes.
Ah, but Clinton got 2.9 million more popular votes than Trump.
A popular triumph for Clinton? Not so. Trump won the election through the Electoral College – and the presidency – which was deemed unpopular with the general public.
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Author’s comment: According to the Associated Press, all electors will meet December 14 to formally vote for the next presidency. Most states have laws binding their electors to the winner of the popular vote in their state, measures upheld by the Supreme Court this year.
Cross our fingers we don’t witness what happened back in 2016.