The Student Newspaper of Saint Peter's Prep

The Petroc

The Student Newspaper of Saint Peter's Prep

The Petroc

The Student Newspaper of Saint Peter's Prep

The Petroc

The Electoral College

Every four years in the United States, we exercise our democratic right to vote in the general election.  Our voting right is powerful yet does everyone understand the intricacies of it? Believe it or not, when you cast your ballot for the President, your vote does not actually elect the President and Vice President because of a republican form of government called the Electoral College. This system is very complicated and often misunderstood.

Each state elects the following: a local town council, county executives, state assembly representatives, state senators, a governor, United States congressmen, and United States senators. All of these offices are tallied with the popular vote and the simple majority will win the office. Often offices of congress become challenging when incumbents, parities, interest groups and so forth influence the vote. Due to the lack of a term limit on Congress, representatives may hold offices for many consecutive terms. All of the positions best represent their respective constituents by attempting to pass laws, levy budgets, and, if need be, respond to crises. The right to elect a representative is arguably our most influential power in government.

We have the unique power to elect our president and vice president. This is called a general election, which means that every United States citizen has the ability and the natural right to cast a ballot. Starting when the Constitution was ratified, there have been two forms of voting that elect the President. There is the Electoral College and the popular vote. The popular vote (which citizens participate in) influences the Electoral College. At the beginning of our country, the candidate with the most electoral votes would be the President and the candidate with the second most electoral votes would become the Vice President.

The real mystery though is how exactly this Electoral College system works. The Electoral College is the voting system in which representatives from each state issue a vote on the presidency. Each state is allotted a different amount of electoral votes based on population (similar to congress). A state has an equal number of electoral votes to the number of congressmen plus its two senators. Therefore, there are 538 electoral votes on the college map. 435 congressmen + 100 senators + 3 electoral votes for the District of Columbia = 538 electoral votes. The current system works in a way that once the electoral voters are confident that a candidate has won the popular vote in their state they will issue their vote for the winning candidate. This allows a candidate to win that total number of electoral votes. I am not trying to convey to you that your vote in a general election is lessened because it does greatly influences the Electoral College system, but it is important to realize what a vote actually does.

Our system is historical, unique and an honor that should not be taken lightly. It remains our civic duty to vote intelligently with each election but it is also important to understand the weight behind your vote and how it operates in the overall decision of our leaders.