As another presidential election wraps up, people wonder if the Electoral College is necessary again.
The Electoral College is a crucial step in the presidential election process. Each state is assigned a number of electoral votes depending on the state’s population. Less populous states have less Electoral College votes than more populous states. For example, Wyoming only has three while California has 54. Illinois has 19 electoral votes due to its high population in urban areas like Chicagoland.
In most states, the electoral votes go to the candidate who wins the popular vote in that state. However, Nebraska and Maine have a slightly different process. Nebraska has five electoral votes; two go to the state’s popular vote winner. Each of the other three votes represents the popular vote of one of the three congressional districts. In Maine, two of the four electoral votes go to the winner of the state’s popular vote, and the other two go to the congressional district’s popular vote, similar to Nebraska.
Many question how well the American government represents its voters due to the Electoral College. In 2016, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by a margin of 2.87 million votes, but it was former president Donald Trump who took office with 304 Electoral College votes. The national popular vote distribution was 48.2% to 46.1%, making Hillary Clinton one of the largest popular vote winners for a candidate who did not win the presidency.
While former president Donald Trump won both the Electoral College and popular vote in the 2024 election, many still doubt the Electoral College’s relevance.
According to the Pew Research Center, 63% of Americans believe that the Electoral College should be abolished, believing the president should be the candidate who wins a national popular vote.
