How the Electoral College Works

Поделиться
HTML-код
  • Опубликовано: 20 окт 2024
  • The idea of democracy seems simple enough right? Majority rule. But that can be tough to square with American presidential elections. After all, in the 21st century, two American presidents have assumed the oval office despite losing the popular vote. In 2016, Donald Trump emerged victorious despite Hillary Clinton amassing over 3 million more votes than he did! So how do you lose by more than 3 million and still win? The answer is the Electoral College. In this video, we explain what the electoral college is, how it works, and how it impacts elections for President of the United States of America.

Комментарии • 104

  • @LATrueStories
    @LATrueStories 9 дней назад +12

    I stopped watching when you started entering your opinions on the system, instead of just explaining it.

    • @TalladegaTom
      @TalladegaTom 7 дней назад +1

      Yes.
      That and the failure to recognize that states have rights and require equal representation under the Constitution.
      The job description is in the title, President of the United States. That job is to maintain the union of states and defend the union of the states.

  • @averagejoe2983
    @averagejoe2983 Месяц назад +23

    If we lived in a true democracy, one might make the case that a revision or update of Electoral College is necessary, but we live in a republic. Read Federalist Paper NO. 10 and 39.

  • @michaelminnick386
    @michaelminnick386 12 дней назад +6

    After watching the video and reading many of the comments, I am even happier that the United States is not a democracy.

  • @madhatter8088
    @madhatter8088 5 дней назад +2

    We're not a democracy, were a "Republic"!!

  • @c0l0jar0
    @c0l0jar0 Месяц назад +9

    0:01 The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) is an agreement among a group of U.S. states and the District of Columbia to award all their electoral votes to whichever presidential ticket wins the overall popular vote in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

  • @honeyhoney1529
    @honeyhoney1529 23 часа назад

    As a Belgian, I'm trying to understand how the electoral college works.
    The electoral college votes are influenced by the majority of people's votes per state.
    Interesting setup due to a lot of historical politics.

  • @carlgrant6109
    @carlgrant6109 18 дней назад +2

    So it's a problem if your candidate doesn't win.

    • @CP-sy9cd
      @CP-sy9cd 14 дней назад +1

      It’s a problem when the candidate with the majority of popular votes looses….

    • @carlgrant6109
      @carlgrant6109 14 дней назад

      Two hundred years it's been working. Obviously you don't understand it.

  • @elizabethgauger1666
    @elizabethgauger1666 2 дня назад

    So glad our founders created a Constitutional Republic instead of the Democracy explained in this video. FYI-every vote does count!

  • @MauriceNovembre
    @MauriceNovembre Месяц назад +3

    How are the electors selected?

    • @TraceyIsTired
      @TraceyIsTired Месяц назад

      supposedly by votes, but I find that hard to believe considering it's likely just about nobody votes for electoral college voters cus nobody even knows about it.

    • @timrothgeb416
      @timrothgeb416 28 дней назад

      They are usually slected by the parties in an election of party members. Each party selects a slate and the winning slate casts their vote for President in December.

  • @ryangochuico
    @ryangochuico Месяц назад +6

    Watches explainer video. Still confused. 😂
    Popular votes seems more simple and straightforward

    • @monst3r_child832
      @monst3r_child832 24 дня назад +2

      that's cuz it is, but all the people in power are old, like the age of my grandfather old and they don't want us to take the power away from them

    • @NopeOnARope_
      @NopeOnARope_ 11 дней назад

      That's how a few cities determine the entire country's fate. What does a southern californian know about life in kansas? Why should they be able to determine life for them? I think all states should have the same number of votes per state no matter the population. Divvy it up by some process to be determined, but say only 5 votes per state, flat. Those electors must rep the population they are chosen to represent and cast as per.

    • @ryangochuico
      @ryangochuico 11 дней назад

      @@NopeOnARope_ the intent seems noble but tell me how someone with the majority(popular) vote can still lose an election due to having less electoral votes from the election

    • @LATrueStories
      @LATrueStories 9 дней назад +1

      Watch the one by Prager University instead it actually is easier to understand and doesn’t have any bias in it.

    • @ryangochuico
      @ryangochuico 9 дней назад

      @@LATrueStories thank you. That was a lot more understandable ☺️

  • @LeoJBatt
    @LeoJBatt Месяц назад +8

    This method needs to GO! So really 538 people decide who wins? Please.

  • @slamm1t
    @slamm1t Месяц назад +3

    So our votes only count if they fall on the same side our electoral representative wants it to, otherwise they just vote the way they want.

    • @dmanson4649
      @dmanson4649 25 дней назад +2

      No. Don’t be silly. You don’t really think the College Reps ever vote against the State vote do you?

    • @glennwatson3313
      @glennwatson3313 6 дней назад +1

      No, you got it wrong.

    • @Bane-l7h
      @Bane-l7h 5 дней назад

      @@dmanson4649 Only the ones who are beholden to fuhrer tRump. Just watch. There's already been fake electors from the GOP side.

  • @lvleminckx
    @lvleminckx Месяц назад +2

    This video unfortunately fails to explain why small states would be favored over denser states. The explanation that the video provides is "most states being winner-takes-all" but that is actually completely unrelated. I mean, it's bad because it indeed makes some vote count less than others, but it doesn't make votes from smaller states count less than bigger states, right ? Since electoral votes are distributed depending on the population of each state. So I don't see the logic here. Furthermore, it even seem to be the opposite : big states (at least some) are favored over small states since, as you've said yourself, the swing states are exclusively big states, that also happen to be close races.
    Now after some research, I learned that the distribution of electoral votes per state is not strictly proportional to the population : instead, each state receives 3 electoral votes THEN the rest of the electoral votes are distributed proportionally to each state's population. This rules indeed seems to favor states that have fewer people. But hold on, fewer people in total doesn't mean smaller population density : actually, a lot of very small states (geographically) only include one or two big cities and are highly densely populated, but the total population of the state is still not much, and yet that state gets at least 3 electoral votes. For example, Rhode Island is favored in that way compared to Ohio. So, it's not true that "rural states" are favored over "big cities"...
    Brilliantly explained here : ruclips.net/video/7wC42HgLA4k/видео.html

  • @lindsayhodapp1371
    @lindsayhodapp1371 2 дня назад

    Why is Rhode Island dark on the map at 1:20. Like it's so small it's doesn't exist.

  • @heidifromoz215
    @heidifromoz215 8 дней назад

    The music is very distracting.

  • @robertnewby4798
    @robertnewby4798 Месяц назад +6

    Well we are not a democracy nor a democratic republic. We are a constitutional REPRESENTATIVE republic.

    • @timrothgeb416
      @timrothgeb416 28 дней назад +1

      We are a Democratic Constitutional Republic according to the US House of Representatives. But we are governed like an oligarchy.

    • @robertnewby4798
      @robertnewby4798 27 дней назад

      @@timrothgeb416 well constitutional scholars state we are a constitutional REPRESENTATIVE republic.
      Who would know better???
      Here is what the liberal leftist Marxist dems dept of education kept out of high school govt currulim class. You will understand better.
      ruclips.net/video/VogzExP3qhI/видео.htmlsi=HDzeIoM92F00COeY
      Oh and by the way, when the dept of education was created. The USA was 1st in the world for education. But just one generation later we became 17th in the world for education. Today we are 23rd

    • @TheSlyFawkes
      @TheSlyFawkes 25 дней назад

      @@timrothgeb416 definitely seems more like a plutocracy since the few that control the country are wealthy beyond our wildest dreams.

  • @marcpennington8455
    @marcpennington8455 Месяц назад +30

    The Founders don’t get enough credit for this foresight and genius. 🇺🇸

    • @fabioliveir
      @fabioliveir Месяц назад

      For creating a system that no other democracy uses? A divisive one where the votes of 7 swing states matter more than all others and republican votes in California and Democrats in Wyoming don’t matter? Sure, good job on them. The rule of the minority. They should be proud👏🏻

    • @c0l0jar0
      @c0l0jar0 Месяц назад +10

      Are you kidding?

    • @evelyntaylor4470
      @evelyntaylor4470 Месяц назад +7

      Those old, whyte men...SMH The constitution needs to be totally rewritten. The electoral college needs to go away. Everyone's vote should be counted. The 13th amendment needs to be replaced with something relevant. The US constitution is ridiculous and obsolete 😮

    • @evelynomine1837
      @evelynomine1837 Месяц назад

      ​I agree! They encourage to vote that each vote counts, but not when negated by this so called electoral college that simply snuffs out the popular votes. It should be one man one vote, simply like that!!

    • @TraceyIsTired
      @TraceyIsTired Месяц назад

      it's funny how India counts their votes by hand despite having 2 billion people but the US can't.

  • @NellMarlier
    @NellMarlier 27 дней назад +1

    So why pensylvania became blue even if their was majority of red

  • @constancemichelle52
    @constancemichelle52 Месяц назад +2

    3:18 I still don't get it!!!! He lost me along time ago.

    • @evelyntaylor4470
      @evelyntaylor4470 Месяц назад

      They need to get rid of the electoral college needs to go away. Everyone's vote should be counted. The whole constitution needs to be amended. It is totally outdated. These old whyte men would write are obsolete. Check out the 13th amendment. 😮

    • @bobbarclay316
      @bobbarclay316 Месяц назад +1

      Try it this way: the electoral college has the same number of votes as the Senate plus the House of Representatives. These bodies mean we are a Republic, not a Democracy. We are a union of republican states, and thats how we run our elections.
      We are not a democracy, because a democracy can vote to ignore individual citizens rights, if they can get 51% to agree.
      As in England, Canada, the whole EU, and other countries with a parliament but no written constitution.

    • @TraceyIsTired
      @TraceyIsTired Месяц назад

      If you win a state by even one vote you win more winning votes, so if you were to win about one third of the states you could win the election because of the electoral college. Ofcourse this is unlikely so it's more like winning 2 swing states and you win.

    • @ZeYoX-mw7sh
      @ZeYoX-mw7sh 26 дней назад

      @@bobbarclay316 They cant ignore rights, though.

    • @bobbarclay316
      @bobbarclay316 26 дней назад

      @@ZeYoX-mw7sh In a Democracy, rights are what the majority say they are. Another reason we are a Republic.

  • @cubeweaver
    @cubeweaver Месяц назад +4

    The best explanation found on RUclips!!!

    • @ralph8073
      @ralph8073 Месяц назад

      I'm gonna have to disagree. He got the main reason for the establishment of the EC wrong. The main reason it was established is because the Founders did not trust the general public to select a good president. They felt the public was too dumb and uninformed, and could be mislead by a conman. They wanted the choice to be made by a small number of persons.

  • @markio2010
    @markio2010 21 день назад

    This is why Trump before even running for president used to say the elections were rigged.
    How you like them apples?

    • @Bane-l7h
      @Bane-l7h 5 дней назад

      As usual, his accusations are confessions, as he plans to rig it his way, when he loses, through the use of corrupt electors and judges.

  • @HektorBandimar
    @HektorBandimar 16 дней назад +3

    The popular vote should really be all that counts in the Presidential election, the Electoral College is a ridiculous and unfair system.

    • @LATrueStories
      @LATrueStories 9 дней назад

      Actually, the electoral college, the point of it, is to ensure there’s no tyranny. You can actually watch some thing from Prager University on the electoral college and why the founders thought this was the best way to elect a president. It is completely unbiased unlike this video.

    • @chrisatdxb
      @chrisatdxb 4 дня назад

      The Electoral College only becomes ridiculous when the "winner takes all" comes into play, even if the difference is only one vote.

  • @Filboid2000
    @Filboid2000 23 дня назад

    I agree that the electoral college is archaic and needs to go the way of the dodo, but I don't think it's fair to say that you vote doesn't count; doing so spreads despondency thus causing LESS people to vote than do now. In the last presidential election (2020), about 66% of eligible voters went to the polls - imagine if the other third did, too? It could have drastically changed the electoral map. As it would if LESS people voted. You are making a bad problem worse.

  • @Char830
    @Char830 Месяц назад +2

    I've never voted but was going to this year till I started looking into it. I'm disabled and can't drive so there's really no point in me having to get a ride to go vote because I live in NC. This system is screwed up really what's the point in voting if it doesn't count. The county needs trump so bad right now. I pray he wins.

    • @tkimble8165
      @tkimble8165 12 дней назад

      That's why mail in vote is another option if you can't drive unless your Trump supporter like you are. It's only fair when your vote counts if you live in the red state and if Trump win, right?

    • @johnsandoval2995
      @johnsandoval2995 7 дней назад

      you can do both, pray then Vote

  • @Keepitkind7
    @Keepitkind7 Месяц назад +2

    The Electoral college outdated. Why use un-elected electors with opinions as intermediarys? Do it by hand count and/or or electronically, bypass electors wanting their own outcome, and send the count straight to congress...or the popular vote.

  • @carsthoughts8944
    @carsthoughts8944 29 дней назад

    We are a republic !

  • @jaspervanderburgh81
    @jaspervanderburgh81 Месяц назад

    Affirmative action states

  • @cassandrasims2485
    @cassandrasims2485 27 дней назад

    Thank you for taking the time to explain "how" the Electoral College works, and "why" it works that way. Although the constituation was set forth by the founding fathers, I think with time should come change. However, I can somewhat imagine why it hasn't been changed. If one part of the constitution is amended, another would most likely have to be as well. Additionally, before long, everything about it would be changed. Nevertheless, the way it's done now doesn't seem as though it's the "peoples' votes" that matter the most. Then again, if I understood correctly, a state that gets the majority of the overall votes is the state that automatically receives the electoral votes for that state, right? If that be the case, there's still a signicant downside to that method, since some states will always have the Republican majority and vice versa; so in that aspect, it doesn't give each presidential candidate an equal opportunity to win that particular state. Of course, that's just one person's opinion.

  • @raymondwallace255
    @raymondwallace255 Месяц назад +7

    It should be only popular vote

    • @marcusreacts285
      @marcusreacts285 29 дней назад +1

      No it shouldn’t bud. If there was only popular vote it will go to one party forever.

    • @TraceyIsTired
      @TraceyIsTired 28 дней назад +4

      @@marcusreacts285 "It shouldn't be by popular vote because the other party is more liked than the other" is a WILD admittance.

    • @dmanson4649
      @dmanson4649 25 дней назад

      @@TraceyIsTired: So you’re in favour of Taxation Without Representation? That caused a bit of trouble a while back if I recall…

    • @TraceyIsTired
      @TraceyIsTired 25 дней назад

      @@dmanson4649 chat does he know what a "congress" is?

    • @TraceyIsTired
      @TraceyIsTired 5 дней назад

      @@dmanson4649 Ah yes because red states certainly don't exist and the office of the president is the only office.

  • @NancyTrimble-z6c
    @NancyTrimble-z6c 20 дней назад +1

    The electoral college no longer works due to advanced communications today