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Electoral Votes

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  1. brikdog24 brikdog24 is offline

    Pittsburgh, PA
    United States

    Posts: 1,031
    Joined: May 07

    Nov 4th, 2008 (11/4/2008 10:39am)

    Can someone please try to explain real briefly y we use electoral votes...or actually what i want to understand better is how our vote matters if the electoral votes are what counts. if the popular vote say in one state is 500,000 obama and 500,100 mccain. can the electoral votes still go to obama?

    if not ok..if so, then how does our vote matter?

    just a little confused about this. considering it happened in 2000 w gore
     
  2. Mr Galt Mr Galt is offline sister-in-law's a ho

    Overland Park, KS
    United States

    Posts: 9,094
    Joined: Nov 07

    Nov 4th, 2008 (11/4/2008 10:49am) in reply to brikdog24

    party that wins the popular vote in the state gets to choose the electors. They obv seek to choose loyals persons that will vote for their candidate. The elector, however, is free to vote for anyone they like (the so-called faithless elector). It has happened at times but never in any meaningful way. If your vote puts your party over the top by a single vote then your side gets to appoint the electors. There are a few states (Nebraksa for one) in which not all of the electors are decided by statewide popular vote. Some or all of the electors are chosen via who wins each particular congressional district. States get one elector for each congressperson and senator representing them in congress.

    Electoral college was created due to the lack of transportation and communication options in early America. Prolly due for an overhaul in most expert opinions.
  3. SluggerWV SluggerWV is offline A picture is worth a thousand words.

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    Nov 4th, 2008 (11/4/2008 10:51am) in reply to brikdog24

    electoral college was invented to give smaller states a say in the national election otherwise there was no incentive for them to join the union

    it works today too without the electoral college , the candidates would ignore most of the nation and play up to the big states
  4. baughman baughman is offline

    Cincinnati, OH
    United States

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    Nov 4th, 2008 (11/4/2008 10:54am) in reply to Mr Galt

    Electoral college is also in effect to help balance out america. IF there was just a popular vote, no person running would give two shits about 90% of the country. You would only see people in the major citys trying to get your vote.

    The college takes some of the power away from bigger states and gives some to smaller states.

    pretty much if you win the popular in a state you win those points. Thats how you could win popular but lose white house.
  5. baughman baughman is offline

    Cincinnati, OH
    United States

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    Nov 4th, 2008 (11/4/2008 10:54am) in reply to baughman

    damn you sluggerwv you type faster then me
  6. whaler55 whaler55 is offline

    Alpharetta, GA
    United States

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    Nov 4th, 2008 (11/4/2008 10:56am) in reply to brikdog24

    I doubt the electoral college will ever change, so get used to it.

    also, everybody is so concerned about voting for the president today. Probably the more important vote(s) you cast will be for the senate and/or congressperson in your state. that's another reason your vote matters. so get out and vote (unless you're voting for obama, then sit home and watch judge judy).
  7. brikdog24 brikdog24 is offline

    Pittsburgh, PA
    United States

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    Nov 4th, 2008 (11/4/2008 11:11am) in reply to Mr Galt

    so technically if u win the pop vote in a state..u win the elec vote most of the time.

    i would of thought after what happened in 2000 that they may have gone to strictly a popular vote. and fwiw i dont agree that only big cities would vote. and the candidates would only campaign there. but that doesnt matter

    thanks
     
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  8. dhubermex dhubermex is offline Senior Writer

    Mexico

    Posts: 8,470
    Joined: Jul 05

    Nov 4th, 2008 (11/4/2008 11:20am) in reply to brikdog24

    There will be updates to the presidential and congressional electoral map this evening in dolphin13's thread:

    <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=P5_ListRowAlt><TD class="P5_ListCell P5_LeftListCell">U.S. Election Night Coverage </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

    This should be a practical way to keep up with the electoral race.
     
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