Every presidential election, we are reminded that the popular vote does not matter; only the electoral college elects the candidate. This can confuse non-Americans, so Brig will explain the Electoral College, along with its history and notable elections, in the post-2024 presidential election period.
The Electoral College’s formation:
The Electoral College was formed during the creation of the United States and can be found in Article three, section two of the Constitution. The section can be summarised in three points:
Selection of Electors: The method of selecting electors is determined by each state’s legislature. The Constitution does not specify the exact method, so states have the power to decide whether electors are chosen by the state legislature, popular vote, or another method.
Meeting of Electors: Electors meet in their respective states and cast two votes, one for President and one for Vice President.
Majority Requirement: A majority of the electors’ votes are required to win the presidency. If no candidate receives a majority, the election is decided by the House of Representatives, where each state delegation casts one vote for President. If no candidate gets a majority in the House, the Vice President is selected by the Senate.
Amendments to the Electoral College:
The constitution has, of course, changed slightly since its conception 235 years ago. An early example was the 12th amendment in 1804, created in reaction to the election of 1800 between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson that resulted in a tie. Thomas Jefferson would eventually win the election of 1800. These amendments included:
Procedure for no majority: The House of Representatives would vote for the president, with each representative having one vote, and they can only vote on the top three presidential candidates. The vice president would be voted in the Senate.
Separate ballot: Before the 12th Amendment, each elector in the Electoral College cast two votes for President, and the person with the second-highest number of votes became Vice President. The amendment required electors to cast one vote for President and a separate one for Vice President, ensuring that the President and Vice President were not from the same political party unless specifically intended.
Classic historical examples:
Election of 1828: the heavily contested election of 1828 resulted in no clear electoral college winner. Thus, the decision was given to the House of Representatives. The House would elect John Quincy Adams as president, even though Andrew Jackson won the popular vote.
Election of 1876: in one of the most controversial presidential elections, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes defeated Democrat Samuel J. Tilden by one electoral vote (185 over 184). Tilden won 50.9 per cent of the popular vote compared to Hayes’s 47.9 per cent, but this was not enough. This period marked a Republican dominance in US politics, with only one Democrat (Grover Cleveland) being elected president between 1860 and 1912.
Election of 1888: running for a second term, Democrat Grover Cleveland was defeated by Republican Benjamin Harrison, with Harrison winning 238 electoral votes to Cleveland’s 168. In 1876, the defeated candidate, Cleveland, won the popular vote by less than 100,000. Needless to say, it was one of the closest presidential races in history.
Cleveland would later win the 1892 presidential election, becoming the first president to serve two non-consecutive terms (1885-1889, 1893-1897). Donald Trump is now the second president to achieve this feat. All in all, Cleveland would win the popular vote in three consecutive presidential elections.
Election of 2000: perhaps the most infamous presidential election, Republican George Bush defeated Democrat Al Gore by 271 electoral college votes compared to Gore’s 266. Gore won a small plurality of the popular vote, but what is most remarkable is that Bush won the key swing state of Florida by 537 votes, a margin of 0.009 per cent.
Election of 2016: this election is noted for the largest gap between the winning electoral vote and winning the popular vote. Republican Donald Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton by 304 electoral college votes to Clinton’s 227. Despite this, Clinton won the popular vote, with a majority of more than 2.87 million votes (Clinton, 65,853,514 million; Trump, 62,984,828).
Final thoughts:
The electoral college will continue to puzzle both Americans and non-Americans in every presidential election. Critics argue it is undemocratic, and the popular vote should be enough to elect a president. Defenders of the Electoral College argue that it acts as a safeguard from pure democracy and helps better represent smaller states.
Whatever your opinion may be, it is always important to understand the Electoral College and get a better sense of how one’s voting system works. Until it is abolished, we shall have to keep focusing on the Electoral College, recognising its importance in a presidential election and its continued place in America’s ever-changing political environment.
For further information, check out the Constitution of the United States, Henry Graff’s biography of Grover Cleveland, and Hans Trefousse’s biography of Rutherford B. Hayes.
Featured Image Credit: Pexels Free Photos.
I am a third-year Politics and Journalism Studies student at the University of Stirling (2022-) and a writer and sub-editor for the Brig for over a year (Nov. 2023-), focusing mainly on political topics.
