Myth: The Electoral College thwarts popular democracy

Liberal myth

The Electoral College system means Presidents can be elected without majorities.

The facts

Presidents rarely achieve popular majorities under the current system, but this problem would be magnified under direct elections.

• A majority will rarely if ever agree on an ideal candidate in an open election
• Individuals would fracture their votes across many candidates
• If majorities were required, runoffs would proliferate, and Presidents would essentially be elected by minority of voters who got them into the runoff
• Presidents would always know that at least 75 to 80 percent of the people originally voted for someone else

What is the Electoral College?

When electing the President,

• Each state is assigned a number of votes, or electors, equal to the number of representatives and senators that state has in Congress; Washington, D.C. also has three electoral votes
  
  Example: California, the largest state, has 55 electoral votes (53 representatives and two senators)
• In each state, voters select their favorite candidate, and the electors then assign that state’s votes to the top candidate
  
  In two states, Maine and Nebraska, one electoral vote is assigned to each congressional district and two are “at large” (determined statewide) so the electoral vote can potentially be divided
  
  Example: In Maryland in 2004, 1.3 million people voted for John Kerry and 1 million for George W. Bush. John Kerry received Maryland’s 10 electoral votes
• The candidate with the most electoral votes wins the election
  
  Example: In 2004, George W. Bush earned 286 electoral votes and John Kerry earned 251. George W. Bush won the election

Read more information on the Electoral College at the National Archives website.

Ensuring legitimacy

The Electoral College magnifies wins to add legitimacy.

• Even if a candidate fails to earn a majority of the popular vote, he will usually win by a large margin in the Electoral College (See chart)
• The Electoral College win can help make the election results more certain; a direct election will almost always be close

A compromise candidate

The Electoral College ensures a candidate that appeals to a broad swathe of America is elected.

• The candidate has to be moderate enough to appeal to voters all across the country
• The winning candidate has to form coalitions and alliances before the election to increase his appeal

Reducing fraud and errors

No system is perfect, but the Electoral College helps defend against fraud and mistakes in elections.

• It is difficult to predict where stolen votes will make a difference, while a national system would make cheating likely in an area dominated by one party
• Problems can be isolated to one state or a handful of states—as in 2000, where the election was over once Florida’s problems were resolved
• National recounts are never necessary

Related Heritage research

• Tara Ross, “The Electoral College: Enlightened Democracy,” November 1, 2004