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Is it possible for a candidate to win the popular vote across the nation but still lose the electoral vote?
Wiki User
∙ 12y ago
Yes- this can happen and has happened- what counts is the electoral vote.
1824- Andrew Jackson lead in popular vote and electoral vote- did not get a majority-- House elected John Quincy Adams as president.
1876- Samuel Tilden won popular vote, Rutherford Hayes won the electoral vote and the election .
1888- Grover Cleveland won popular vote, lost election to Benjamin Harrison.
2000- Al Gore won the popular vote - lost to George W. Bush.
Wiki User
∙ 12y ago
Wiki User
∙ 12y agoYes, this true. In America, a person running for President can win the popular vote but still lose the true election. This is because the electoral college actually picks the winner of the election. No, this is not a real college; it is a group of 538 people, a small portion of which from each state. They are supposed to represent the people's opinion, even though they are highly educated politicians who are well-informed about government.
The answer to your question has been proved over time. This has actually happened to a person who ran for President. During the George W. Bush - Al Gore election in 2000, Al Gore won the popular vote (the people's vote) while George Bush won the electoral college vote. This situation was very complicated, and the Supreme Court ended up choosing George Bush as the true winner of the Presidential race.
Wiki User
∙ 12y agoYes, and it has happened before.
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What are some arguments for and against the electoral college?
Arguments for the Electoral College are that: - it contributes to the cohesiveness of the country by requiring a distribution of popular support to be elected president. - it enhances the status of minority interests. - it contributes to the political stability of the nation by encouraging a two-party system. - it maintains a federal system of government and representation. Arguments against the Electoral College are that: - it diminishes the principle of one vote per person, by giving the population of small states more electoral votes than an equivalent population in a large in a large state would receive - it can award victory to the candidate who wins the electoral but not the popular vote - a candidate who wins the electoral but not the popular vote may have a lasting problem of legitimacy as president. The indefensible reality is that more than 99% of campaign attention (ad spending and visits) was showered on voters in just ten states in 2012- and that in today's political climate, the swing states have become increasingly fewer and fixed. Where you live determines how much, if at all, your vote matters. The current state-by-state winner-take-all method of awarding electoral votes (not mentioned in the US Constitution, but later enacted by 48 states), ensures that the candidates, after the conventions, will not reach out to about 80% of the states and their voters. Candidates have no reason to poll, visit, advertise, organize, campaign, or care about the voter concerns in the dozens of states where they are safely ahead or hopelessly behind. It would only take winning a bare plurality of popular votes in just the 11 most populous states, containing 56% of the population of the United States, for a candidate to win the Presidency with a mere 23% of the nation's votes! This is somewhat obviated by the current political disagreements between some of these states.
Do the US people directly elect the President?
No, the people of the US do not directly elect the president. There is a group known as the Electoral College which actually elects the President and Vice President, after being selected as proxies in the popular election. It has occurred that Presidents were elected by the electoral college vote who did not receive a majority of the popular vote nationwide. Each political party in a state chooses a slate of electors. There are as many for a given state as a state has both US senators and US representatives in Congress. In 48 states, all of a state's electoral votes go to the single party that receives the most votes (President and Vice President). In Maine and Nebraska, some may go to the other candidates based on the vote. The electors from across the country meet in December and officially cast their votes for their candidates, and these votes are delivered to Congress to be tallied on the following January 6. If a Presidential candidate receives 270 of the 538 total electoral votes, he is declared elected, along with his Vice President, and sworn into office on January 20. If no candidate has enough votes, the House will elect the President and the Senate will elect the Vice President.
How did the rise of political parties effect the electoral college?
Political party loyalties began to cut across State loyalties, creating new problems, such as electoral ties within the same party.
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How many votes did Obama win by in mass 2008election?
In the 2008 presidential election, Democratic candidate Barack Obama was elected President with 69,456,897 (52.9%) votes in his favour. In contrast, his nearest rival, Republican Party candidate John McCain, took 59,934,814 (45.7%) votes - Obama won 9,522,083 (7.2%) more votes than McCain.However, this is not the margin Obama actually won by. Unlike all other executive presidents around the world, the US President is not elected by the popular vote but rather by an Electoral College, the members of which are chosen using multi-winner plurality voting (first past the post). In order to be elected President, a candidate must win more than half - at least 270 of 538 - the votes in the Electoral College. Each State has a share of these votes, ranging from just 3 votes to 55. In almost every state, the candidate who wins the state-wide popular vote (by plurality) wins all of the votes in the electoral college it has.As such, Obama did not actually win by 9.5million votes - only votes that won Obama a state counted towards his Electoral College total and thus his victory. Any vote for Obama in a state won by McCain was effectively wasted, and vice-versa. In 2008, Obama won 365 electoral votes from across 28 states, whilst McCain won 173 from 22. The seven most marginal states (those where Obama's margin of victory over McCain was thinnest) are worth 102 electoral votes all-in-all; had Obama not won these states, he would have lost the Presidency to McCain. These states are as follows, with the most marginal by percentage first:North Carolina (15 votes): Won by 14,177Indiana (11 votes): Won by 28,391Florida (27 votes): Won by 236,450Ohio (20 votes): Won by 262,224Virginia (13 votes): Won by 234,527Colorado (9 votes): Won by 214,987Iowa (7 votes): Won by 146,561As such, Obama's true margin of victory can be described as 1,137,317 (0.9%) votes. If McCain had won those 7 states by even just a single vote, he would have been elected President instead, even though Obama would still have won 7.2million more votes across the United States.It is important to distinguish between popular and effective votes in this fashion when describing the margin of victory in any US Presidential election.
What role do the electoral college play in the president selection process?
The electoral college is the party actually casting the votes for which runner will become President. Whether they cast their votes with the peoples' popular votes in mind is entirely up to them. A person running for President can lose the overall popular votes, but still become President because of the votes cast by the electoral college.
How is the US President elected?
The United States uses an indirect method to elect the president. The people choose electors which make up what is known as the electoral college and the electoral college elects the President and the vice-president.A national election is held to choose the electors from each state and DC. After the election, the electors meet in their respective state capitals and send their votes to the president of the Senate. On a day appointed in December in the presence of both houses of Congress he counts the ballots and announces the result. The candidates for elector are pledged to vote for one of the presidential candidates and often their names do not appear on the ballot. When people mark their ballot for their candidate, they are really voting for an elector that is pledged to that candidate.After the election, the winning electors gather in their state capital and vote. Some official from the state, usually the secretary of state, certifies their ballot and sends it to vice-president of the US who is also the president of the Senate. After all ballots are received, he will open and count the ballots before a joint session of Congress and announce the results. If one candidate has a majority,which is 270 votes, the winner will be announced, Otherwise, the decision will be delayed until the new House meets in January and they will determine the winner using a special procedure in which each state gets one vote .http://wiki.answers.com/What_do_you_have_to_do_to_become_president_of_the_US#ixzz1ZOB2w1WmThe president is elected by country-wide vote
