The Electoral College And Your Vote

Most of your big population cities are along the coasts. But also some of the interior of the country. If the Electoral College voted the popular vote it would disenfranchise all the States that are in the interior of the country. As every state gets their share of the Electoral votes. This gives them a say in who is elected. This is the way it was set up so that the smaller populace states have a voice in the elections.

For example, L.A. County alone has a population of over 10 million. That’s more than the combined population of 10 entire states. Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Montana, Delaware, South Dakota, Alaska, North Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming together have a total population of just over 9 million. Do those 10 states want the major population centers deciding for them who gets elected? I know I don’t.

Take a look at how the United States voted by county.

Election 2016 county map

There are roughly 325 million people in the United States. Its huge and spread out. As you can see the Democrats hold the major cites on the east and west coasts and some of the rural counties. but If you look at the Electoral College votes, then you would see if the votes go that way, then most of the states will be red and would vote Republican. But the popular vote would go to the Democrats over riding all the other states. Just because one party gets the popular vote in a few states does not mean that the rest of the country doesn’t have a say in the matter of who is elected. As most people seem to forget we are not a Democracy in the true sense of the word the United States is a Constitutional Republic. That’s a big difference. Democracy is more in practice at the state, county and town level.

Is the United States still a democracy/republic?

In the literal sense of the word, yes. In practice, the answer is more complicated. In 2016, The Economist Intelligence Unit downgraded the United States from a “full democracy” to a “flawed democracy” in its Democracy Report, an annual study of the “state of democracy” around the world.

There were a number of reasons the nation’s rating fell, but one of the most important was the American public’s declining trust in government. Our system of government depends on citizens being able to freely elect leaders who will represent their interests. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen. In a study published 2014, two political scientists found that, on average, the policies representatives pursue are not in fact dictated by public opinion. This is the mark of a flawed democracy/republic: election without true representation.

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