Adventure Forums - View Single Post - Who is your perfect presidential candidate?

BacardiJim · 01-20-2004, 11:27 AM

Because we are not a pure democracy, but also a republic. Each of the fifty states is represented by 2 senators in one house of our legislature and by a number of representatives (based on that state's population) in the other house.

In presidential elections, each state has a number of "electors" equal to the number of representatives and senators it has in the federal legislature. They make up the Electoral College. (This is a now obsolete system in our Constitution, originally established because 18th Century technology would have required months to collect and tabulate votes from all over the country and because 80% of the population was illiterate and thought too "uneducated" to be trusted with a direct vote.) These electors are appointed by the state (local) officials of the two major political parties. Although not legally bound to do so, these electors cast ALL of their votes for the candidate who wins the popular vote in their state. (If they failed to do so, they wouldn't get appointed as an elector next time around.)

Thus, the President is elected by a majority vote of the Electoral College. It is possible to win the popular vote aand still lose to an opponent who has won the vote in enough heavily populated states to have a majority of electoral votes. The 2000 election was the second time in US history that this has happened.

This is why the vote count in Florida and all the problems with it was so important. Florida is a heavily populated state, with 25 electoral votes. Bush ended up winning the Florida popular vote by some 200 votes in the count that was finally accepted. So he got all 25 of those electoral votes, which gave him the Presidency.

Does that make it any clearer?

01-20-2004, 11:27 AM	#29
BacardiJim Banned User Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 1,346	Because we are not a pure democracy, but also a republic. Each of the fifty states is represented by 2 senators in one house of our legislature and by a number of representatives (based on that state's population) in the other house. In presidential elections, each state has a number of "electors" equal to the number of representatives and senators it has in the federal legislature. They make up the Electoral College. (This is a now obsolete system in our Constitution, originally established because 18th Century technology would have required months to collect and tabulate votes from all over the country and because 80% of the population was illiterate and thought too "uneducated" to be trusted with a direct vote.) These electors are appointed by the state (local) officials of the two major political parties. Although not legally bound to do so, these electors cast ALL of their votes for the candidate who wins the popular vote in their state. (If they failed to do so, they wouldn't get appointed as an elector next time around.) Thus, the President is elected by a majority vote of the Electoral College. It is possible to win the popular vote aand still lose to an opponent who has won the vote in enough heavily populated states to have a majority of electoral votes. The 2000 election was the second time in US history that this has happened. This is why the vote count in Florida and all the problems with it was so important. Florida is a heavily populated state, with 25 electoral votes. Bush ended up winning the Florida popular vote by some 200 votes in the count that was finally accepted. So he got all 25 of those electoral votes, which gave him the Presidency. Does that make it any clearer? __________________ Time flies like the wind; Fruit flies like bananas.