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How the U.S. Presidential Voting System Works

Discussion in 'Expat Section' started by PatO, Nov 6, 2012.

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  1. PatO

    PatO DI Forum Luminary Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer Veteran Marines

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    For those who may be interested how the U.S. voting system works, the president is elected by each states electoral votes, not the popular vote (individual votes for the president). The electoral college currently has 538 electors. A candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win the presidency. A large state like California has 55 electoral votes while small states like Wyoming and Delaware have 3 electoral votes. Typically there are states where either the democrats or the republicans would normally win and there are 'swing' states that could go either way, and if a large state like Ohio, could determine the winner. For example, normally Ohio's northern area votes democrat while the southern section would go republican. This election looks pretty close this time.
     
  2. Dave & Imp

    Dave & Imp DI Forum Patron Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer

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    How the U.S. Presidential Voting System Works

    Who says it works?hahahha...hahahahahaha(but good explaination of the system)
     
  3. Rye83

    Rye83 with pastrami Admin Secured Account Highly Rated Poster SC Connoisseur Veteran Army

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    I prefer the electoral system over the popular vote. It was originally brought into practice when there was little infrastructure for communication in the US. It kept the ill informed from picking the candidate. I believe this still applies today as most have no clue what each candidate is running for. It is very uncommon for the electoral college to go against the popular vote in their district though.

    As for the post above, the system does work.......as far as how the system picks candidates who will run, I agree that is broken.
     
  4. Broadside

    Broadside DI Forum Patron

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    Well, good luck to all those that are up for it. You reap what you sow, so it's in your hands.
     
  5. RR_biker

    RR_biker DI Senior Member Veteran Marines

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    Thanks for the explanation. But why is it the individual votes for the president are not being counted. Too much counting all those millions of votes, where as the counting of electoral votes can be done on a tiny blackboard in a classroom.
     
  6. OP
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    PatO

    PatO DI Forum Luminary Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer Veteran Marines

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    John, I didn't do a very good job explaining the process sufficiently. Of course the individual votes are counted but they are counted by each state and the state winner of those votes would then win the electoral votes for that state.
     
  7. ChMacQueen

    ChMacQueen DI Forum Patron Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer Veteran Army

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    The Electoral College has numerous flaws however as well. For one it gives to much power to the super states while other states are simply laughed at. Further the Electoral College votes are decided by the population size of the state which is determined off the Census. To vote legally in a US Federal Election one must be a US Citizen either by birth or naturalization. However the Census counts illegal aliens and legal immigrants the same as Citizens when determining the Electoral College and House seats. In massive pop states like Cali half of the population are non Citizens which should not benefit them in any way in Federal Elections or the House. If you look at all the major Dem states all of them have at least a 10% non Citizen population or higher. These are also the same states that fight feverantly to NOT require any ID to vote or proof of Citizenship to register. Most of these states register you to vote automatically when you apply for a driver's license along with never even asking of you are a Citizen.

    This is a major reason why the Popular Vote would be better in these cases then the Electoral College as with the EC one simply has to flood immigration to specific states from 3rd world countries and educated people. Then you work many of them into voting illegally and each vote from that counts as 2 votes more so as it disenfranchises a Citizen from elsewhere along with giving you an illegal vote for your side.

    IF the vote was challenged and the law was followed rather then politics their is no choice but to nullify the vote and likely demand Obama to concede the election simply on the grounds when votes are looked at in major states like Cali at least 10% of his votes are illegal, more of the EC votes are wrongful, and in smaller states likely anywhere from 1-3% of his votes are from illegal voters as well.
     
  8. OP
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    PatO

    PatO DI Forum Luminary Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer Veteran Marines

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    Given the US military has been brought into the conversation, we are compelled to mention that tomorrow is the Marine Corps birthday. Semper Fi.
     
  9. firefly

    firefly DI Senior Member

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    To make it complete:
    November 6, 2012 – Election Day
    December 17, 2012 – Electoral College will formally elect a President and Vice President.
    January 3, 2013 – The 113th Congress is sworn in.
    January 6, 2013 – Electoral votes are formally counted before a joint session of Congress.
    January 20, 2013 – Oaths of office are taken by the President and Vice President; the new presidential term starts at noon.
    January 21, 2013 – Inauguration Day (as the 20th, the traditional date of the inaugural ceremony, falls on a Sunday
    (from Wikipedia)
     
  10. darkside

    darkside DI Member

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    All I know is that the states that produce more for the economy gets more electoral votes. So all the hype of "every vote counts" is completely bullsh!t. Your vote doesnt count as much if you were a resident of Idaho as opposed to a resident of California.
     
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