When Did the Electoral College Begin in the U.S.?
Where are the Most Electoral College Votes Located?
Why is the Electoral College Used?
Who Might Oppose the Electoral College?
The Electoral College is a group of people that elects the president and vice president of the U.S. Each state has a specific number of votes based on their population, and whichever candidate receivesat least 270 Electoral Votes wins the Presidency.
The foundation of the Electoral College can be traced back to the Virginia Plan. Although created for Congressional representation, the same approach was used for the proportions of Electors in the Electoral College.Since1880, the electors in every state have been chosen based on a popular election.
The six states with the most electors are California (55), Texas (38), New York (29), Florida (29), Illinois (20), and Pennsylvania (20). These states are incredibly important for candidates seeking to win the Presidential Election.
Although it can be seen as a controversial and sometimes confusing system, the Electoral College emphasizes the need for candidates to appeal to the entire population instead of states with a large amount of electoral votes. A candidate needs to campaign throughout the entire country. If the US used only the popular vote, entire regions of the country could potentially be ignored.
There have been five elections in US history where the candidate who received the most popular votes did not win the election. In the 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016 elections, the individual with fewer votes received more Electoral College votes and won the election.
5 Ws of The Electoral College
270
ToWin
Pennsylvania
20
Candidate Jones
40% of State Votes
Candidate Smith
60% of State Votes
Candidate Smith wins the state!
All Electoral Votes from the state will go to Candidate Smith!
Election of 1888
Election of 1824
Election of 1876
Election of 2000
Election of 2016
Won
Lost
John Quincy Adams
31.6%
Rutherford B. Hayes
47.9%
Benjamin Harrison
47.8%
George W. Bush
47.9%
Donald Trump
46.1%
Andrew Jackson
43.3%
Samuel Tilden
50.9%
Grover Cleveland
50.9%
Al Gore
48.4%
Hillary Clinton
48.4%
California
55
Texas
38
Florida
29
Illinois
20
New York
29