The framers of the Constitution wanted a strong executive to … “Why in 2020 do we still use the Electoral College?” wonders 11Alive viewer Michele Kulakowski. ATLANTA — ATLANTA – The winner of the popular vote isn’t necessarily the candidate who wins the White House, leaving some voters to wonder why the United States continues to use the Electoral College. Why do we use the Electoral College? “California and New York would basically select every President based on population along with Florida and Texas,” says Swint. "They came up with the idea of an intermediate body of electors that the people would select and the electors would then make the selection of the president.". "They did not think it … A recent survey indicates most Americans would rather rely on the popular vote to elect the President. So we maintain the electoral college to defend the interests of individual smaller states, even though the original purpose of the system no longer exists. In 2016, seven people across the country were faithless electors. The most recent was President Trump. The final say was left up to the House of Representatives, who selected Adams. Wake Forest politics professor John Dinan said it dates back to 1787 and the Constitutional Convention. The framers of the Constitution wanted a strong executive to run the country, but not too powerful. If states representing 270 electoral votes were to do so, then we would keep the Electoral College, but create the equivalent of a nationwide popular election. RELATED: Why is Georgia so important in this year's presidential race? “What that meant was that the states would have to give up the power that some were not inclined to give up,” says Emory University Political Science Professor Andra Gillespie. It is sometimes reported that Richard M. Nixon received more popular votes in the 1960 election than winner John F. Kennedy , but official results showed Kennedy with 34,227,096 popular votes to Nixon's 34,107,646. RELATED: Why is the President of the United States limited to two terms? The President of the United States is not chosen through a national popular vote because the framers of the Constitution adopted the Electoral College, which gives each state as many votes as it has members of Congress. Though occasionally maligned, this system of … “Why in 2020 do we still use the Electoral College?” wonders 11Alive viewer Michele Kulakowski. Why Do We Still Use the Electoral College? So as it stands, on December 14th, North Carolina's 15 electors will cast their ballots for the winner of the popular vote in our state. “Why in 2020 do we still use the Electoral College?” wonders 11Alive viewer Michele Kulakowski. Interestingly, in 1824, John Quincy Adams was selected to serve as President despite not winning either the popular vote or the electoral vote. In analyzing the reasons for past failures while showing how close the nation has come to abolishing the institution, Why Do We Still Have the Electoral College? Born from a rushed, fraught, imperfect process, the origins and evolution of the Electoral College might surprise you. By Dwight A. Weingarten The best place to help one understand Why Do We Still Have the Electoral College Author’s note: I received a free advance copy of this book based on a news article I wrote on the Electoral College, which was published in The Christian Science Monitor in December 2019. The framers of the Constitution wanted a strong executive to … The Electoral College remains in place over two centuries after the framers of the Constitution empowered it to select presidents. A lot has changed about our country since the electoral college was started but Professor Dinan says hardly anything has changed about the way we elect our president. Notifications can be turned off anytime in the browser settings. She shot him in self-defense after he fatally shot another man in SW Atlanta, police say, Fulton County Schools announce changes to remote learning and 'return to school' plan, Vote for Atlanta Track Club's most outstanding boys and girls cross country athletes, Loeffler, Perdue defend Atlanta Braves name - though team had no plans to change it, Democrats may drop local, state aid package to pass COVID-19 bill, Details released of Joe Biden's visit to Atlanta today. Swint says without the Electoral College, a handful of states would dominate the process. WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — For the past week now we've all been staring at maps filled with states colored in red or blue and a running total of electoral votes at the top. "That is, if we look at how many people proposed changes to the constitution the number one thing people propose is, 'Let's change the electoral college.'". Andrew Jackson won the popular vote but didn’t gain enough Electoral College votes to win the presidency. Leaving aside the fact that a deal is a deal, there are very practical reasons why we will always need the Electoral College under our current constitutional system. If a candidate wins the popular vote in a … 7 things you need to know 7 days before the election, Georgia surpasses 3 million votes ahead of Election Day, NAACP president says African Americans must 'vote like we have never voted before' in 2020 election. But, less understandably, we still use that complicated problem-fraught method. Related Links. The framers of the Constitution wanted a strong executive to … Why do we use the Electoral College? It is designed to not only create a more efficient federal government, but to also protect the interest of the states. The framers of the Constitution wanted a strong executive to … The exact number depends on how many representatives the state has in Congress. Notifications can be turned off anytime in the browser settings. The … It's more complicated than you think, ACC names Northwestern Athletic Director James Phillips as new league commissioner, Democrats may drop local, state aid package to pass COVID-19 bill, Election Blog | Cal Cunningham concedes to Thom Tillis, EXPLAINER: States still in play and what makes them that way. “Why in 2020 do we still use the Electoral College?” wonders 11Alive viewer Michele Kulakowski. Whoever wins a majority of the 538 electors wins the Electoral College and the Presidency. In general, the Presidential candidate who wins a state gets all of the electors there. A 2018 Pew Research Survey indicates most Americans, 58%, would like to abandon the electoral college and leave choosing the President to the popular vote. The most important is … I began to wonder why we still have the Electoral College, what had prevented its reform or abolition. And people have tried... "There's been no part of the U.S. Constitution that has been subject to more amendment efforts in the electoral college," Dinan said. In short, because it's really hard to change the constitution. Professor Dinan says there is one more thing to add about the Electoral College and that's faithless electors, or people who cast their ballot for someone else, not the winner in their state. The reason we even have swing states is because almost all states award their electoral votes using a winner-take-all system. As the 2000 election reminded us, the Electoral College does make it possible for a candidate to win the popular vote and still not become president. The framers of the Constitution wanted a strong executive to … A Review of Alexander Keyssar’s Why Do We Still Have the Electoral College? “Why in 2020 do we still use the Electoral College?” wonders 11Alive viewer Michele Kulakowski. “Why in 2020 do we still use the Electoral College?” wonders 11Alive viewer Michele Kulakowski. Marquette Magazine asked Dr. Paul Nolette, assistant professor in the department of political science, why, after 225… “They wanted the states, all of the states, to play a role in the selection of the President,” says Kennesaw State Political Science Professor Kerwin Swint. "They did not think it was possible for the people to actually make a wise decision about the various candidates back in 1787," Dinan said. “Why in 2020 do we still use the Electoral College?” wonders 11Alive viewer Michele Kulakowski. So why does our country still use it? The framers of the Constitution wanted a strong executive to run the country, but not too powerful. “Why in 2020 do we still use the Electoral College?” wonders 11Alive viewer Michele Kulakowski. Each state gets a minimum of three electors to represent them in the Electoral College. It is difficult to reform some of the parts without reforming others. A recent survey indicates most Americans would rather rely on the popular vote to elect the President. The way we elect a president has not changed much since the Electoral College was introduced in the U.S. Constitution. There are three dominant reasons we still use the Electoral College and it likely won’t change. In more than 230 years only 27 amendments have passed and 10 of those are the Bill of Rights. Four times in U.S. history, a presidential candidate has lost the popular vote but won the Electoral College and the election. “It would require a new Constitutional amendment, and that ratification process would be really difficult,” says Gillespie. Gillespie points out that abandoning the Electoral College would be tough. Established in 1787, the Electoral College is as old as the U.S. Constitution. offers encouragement to those hoping to produce change in the twenty-first century. Why is Georgia so important in this year's presidential race? In the Electoral College, Trump was granted 306 votes to Clinton's 232. The compromise between Presidential power and state power is the Electoral College. Guilford County Sheriff's Office to temporarily close after employee tests positive for COVID-19: Officials, Guilford County principal donates kidney to colleague's husband, Icy glaze likely Wednesday morning in the Triad, Terran Kirksey's Tuesday Morning Forecast, How did Cleveland's baseball team end up with the name 'Indians'? Four times in U.S. history, a presidential candidate has lost the popular vote but won the Electoral College and the election. It’s rare, but electors have, on occasion, gone in a different direction from the vote of the state. First, the founders felt deeply that the popular vote could turn into a “mob rule” mentality. After doing a bit of reading and research, it seemed that the most standard answer to that question—that small states prevented reform—simply was not accurate. The framers of the Constitution wanted a strong executive to … Why is the President of the United States limited to two terms? Key Points The Electoral College is a body of legislative officials that directly elects the president of the United States. The second reason why the Electoral College still stands is that the presidential election system I described before is intricate and has different parts. Why We Still Need The Electoral College The United States Constitution was made by the states, for the states. WATCH: Why Do We Still Have The Electoral College? Wake Forest politics professor John Dinan said it dates back to 1787 and the Constitutional Convention. The most recent was President Donald Trump in 2016. We'll have to see on December 14th to see if that happens in 2020. It’s almost as if we believe that we, the people, should be voting directly for the president — the only official whose job it is to represent all of us equally, wherever we live.