In a nutshell, each state has as many "electors" as it has senators (2) AND members of the House of Reps...for a total of 538. (Yep! The 'value' of each individual citizen's vote does vary from state to state.) The minimum amount of electors assigned to any state is 3...including Wash. D.C....which isn't even a state. The total number of electoral votes need to 'win' is 270 (538 divided by 2 plus a smidgeon...just to keep things nice and neat, I guess.)
The gathering of electors wherein the electoral votes are tallied is what ended up being called/referred to as the Electoral College...don't ask me why. I imagine that's why you don't find it specifically mentioned in the Constitution.
The whole works is pretty thoroughly explained here if you want to wade thru it:
Does my vote count? Understanding the electoral college
Sorry if I did not express myself clearly, Larry.
My contention is that technological advances have rendered the Electoral College unnecessary, revardless of who devised the system. We no longer need the Electoral College to count up "votes" to determine a winner any more than we need horses and buggies to travel. I understand fully how the process works and the 12th ammendment is clear that the Electoral college is called upon to cast its votes when there is no clear majority vote.
The Founding Fathers were a great bunch of individuals who deserve respect for what they did, but IMHO they realized their creation would need to be able to grow and adapt to changes over time...ergo we have Constitutional Ammendments. Twice in my lifetime candidates who were CLEARLY the choice of the general public have lost elections to their oponents due to the Electoral College process, and I believe the Founding Fathers would be aghast at that reality.
My bottom line is that the EC is an outdated, inaccurate way to determine a winner and not only has technology made it unnecessary, but it should be abolished or abandoned because of it's deficiencies in THIS day and age, regardles of who devised it or how long ago.
Blind adherence to an ineffective process is just that---blindness. Thank goodness we no longer need the electoral college, with its deficiencies.
Progress, Larry...it's inevitable and with the very obvious disgust being demonstrated in many locations we need to be proactive. Our citizens deserve no less. Nationwide popular vote CAN and SHOULD replace the EC in determining the elected POTUS...clear and simple. We have the technology, let's use it.
Cheers!
Doug
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