How A President Is Elected

The President is elected by (electoral college) not directly by (we the people).

- Each state has electoral votes

- Based on the number of senators and representatives that each state has in congress

- Each states population decides the number of representatives

- One of the candidates wins all of the electoral votes in all of the states with the exception of
Maine & Nebraska

- In Maine & Nebraska the electors are decided by a statewide popular vote

- The electoral collage votes are counted in front of the Congress to certify the returns

- The candidate that wins over 50% of the electoral votes becomes President

Here is a website that explains: www.learnnc.org...

reply to post by caladonea


OMG!...I created this thread an hour ago...and no one has responded....in the past I have gotten at least a few responses....oh well.....if people read this thread ...for those who did not know....it explains the process of how a President is elected.

I just thought that maybe some people might like to know.

i learned from some1 else, that the way it works, they already got the next 3 presidents handpicked

reply to post by May2nd5050


So....who are those next 3?

Did your friend say?

reply to post by caladonea
Thanks Caladonea. I think it is also worth noting that the electoral college has only ever differed with the popular vote on two occasions, if I recall correctly (Bush in Florida, and I can't remember the other at the moment).

I was under the impression businessman A gives businessman B a suitcase full of money and thats how presidents were elected.

reply to post by Praetorius


You are welcome! The electoral college vote....do you think it is fair?

Originally posted by Ixtab
I was under the impression businessman A gives businessman B a suitcase full of money and thats how presidents were elected.

You may be fairly accurate on what you have said. I have heard this in passing.

Originally posted by caladonea
reply to post by Praetorius

 

You are welcome! The electoral college vote....do you think it is fair?

It honestly leaves a bad taste in my mouth and comes with its own problems beyond possibly overriding the popular vote, but I really need to do a lot more looking into it as there are pros & cons either way. Apparently there are some good reasons for it, but the possibility of the loser winning bothers me - then again, pretty much the whole process does at this point as it's been corrupted on so many different levels.

Long story short - "Not enough information provided" for me to have solid decision at this point

Hope you had a blessed Christmas, and wish the same for your coming year!

To better understand the electoral college we need to remember that it was developed in the 1780's. There was no practical way to have the people vote directly for one person to run the whole country. The only available ways to travel were very slow - on foot, horseback, horse drawn carriage or sailing ship. Even transporting letters or newspapers around was slow and difficult. It would have taken weeks or months just to try and collect and count all of the votes.

The idea therefore was that each state would elect learned and trusted men (sorry no women) to be "electors". They would make the long journey to the capital where they would meet together and elect the President. It was a good solution for the time.

Many people argue that this system is no longer necessary - it is a good argument. Unfortunately, the only way to change this system is by a constitutional amendment. It is unlikely that the smaller states would ever support such an amendment because they currently have an advantage over larger states. The smallest state, Wyoming, gets 3 electoral votes for about 500,000 people - one electoral vote for every 167,000 people. California gets 55 electoral votes for 37,000,000 people - one electoral vote for every 672,000 people. Is that fair? Not unless you live in Wyoming.

reply to post by itguysrule


Thank you for adding that information....I am still on the fence about the voting methods that are used to elect a President. Lot's more studying to do!