Trump Win, Electoral College Fail
By now everybody knows that Donald J. Trump won election as the 45th President of the United States. But did you know it looks like his challenger, Hillary Clinton, actually won more votes than him? Consider the data in this graphic I adapted from a New York Times article today, "Presidential Election Results: Donald J. Trump Wins":
The top line shows that Trump won at least 290 electoral votes; 270 were required to win. His total may rise even higher after the states of Michigan (16 votes) and New Hampshire (4 votes) complete mandatory recounts triggered by extremely close popular vote tallies. But the second line shows that Clinton is actually ahead in the popular vote. Currently she has about 280,000 more votes than Trump. But that doesn't matter, because it's the Electoral College vote that counts in this country.
Fuck the Electoral College.
This isn't even the first time the Electoral College has failed us. In fact it's the fourth time, as explained in this entertaining Youtube video:
My frustation with the Electoral College is not partisan. I.e., it's not as simple as "I wanted Clinton and you gave us Trump." I've been advocating for eliminating the Electoral College ever since I studied it in high school government class. Even back then I could see the potential for it to throw elections. People dismissed my warning because, basically, the only fails to date at that time were 100+ years before and didn't seem relevant. Well, since then the Electoral College has failed not once but twice- twice in one generation! (Al Gore won the popular vote in 2000. Remember that?)
You would think more people would be mad about this. But as much as I would like to see Darth Vader lift this archaic institution by its throat and say "Electoral College, you have failed me for the last time," it's not going to die anytime soon.
The Electoral College is basically here to stay because it's written into the Constitution, which is notoriously hard to change. An amendment would first have to win a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress and then be ratified by three-fourths of the states. That's hard enough to do even for a widely popular issue. But consider that a) all four of the Electoral College reversals have favored the Republican Party, which currently holds majorities in both houses. Right there we're looking at a 50%+ No vote when a change would require 67% Yes. And b) quite a number of small states enjoy outsized influence in presidential elections because of how the Electoral College is rigged.
That's right, rigged. Trump was, ironically, right when he complained that the election would be rigged. I don't think he knew it was rigged in his favor.
The top line shows that Trump won at least 290 electoral votes; 270 were required to win. His total may rise even higher after the states of Michigan (16 votes) and New Hampshire (4 votes) complete mandatory recounts triggered by extremely close popular vote tallies. But the second line shows that Clinton is actually ahead in the popular vote. Currently she has about 280,000 more votes than Trump. But that doesn't matter, because it's the Electoral College vote that counts in this country.
Fuck the Electoral College.
This isn't even the first time the Electoral College has failed us. In fact it's the fourth time, as explained in this entertaining Youtube video:
Click to viewMy frustation with the Electoral College is not partisan. I.e., it's not as simple as "I wanted Clinton and you gave us Trump." I've been advocating for eliminating the Electoral College ever since I studied it in high school government class. Even back then I could see the potential for it to throw elections. People dismissed my warning because, basically, the only fails to date at that time were 100+ years before and didn't seem relevant. Well, since then the Electoral College has failed not once but twice- twice in one generation! (Al Gore won the popular vote in 2000. Remember that?)
You would think more people would be mad about this. But as much as I would like to see Darth Vader lift this archaic institution by its throat and say "Electoral College, you have failed me for the last time," it's not going to die anytime soon.
The Electoral College is basically here to stay because it's written into the Constitution, which is notoriously hard to change. An amendment would first have to win a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress and then be ratified by three-fourths of the states. That's hard enough to do even for a widely popular issue. But consider that a) all four of the Electoral College reversals have favored the Republican Party, which currently holds majorities in both houses. Right there we're looking at a 50%+ No vote when a change would require 67% Yes. And b) quite a number of small states enjoy outsized influence in presidential elections because of how the Electoral College is rigged.
That's right, rigged. Trump was, ironically, right when he complained that the election would be rigged. I don't think he knew it was rigged in his favor.