94
votes
What is the most someone can lose the popular vote by but still win the electoral college?
I don't know the exact number but, as a proportion of the votes cast, it's essentially 100%.
Here's how to calculate it. Find the set of states with the largest population of possible voters but no ...
- 2,583
94
votes
Does the Electoral College system really favor low population areas?
Yes it does, but there's a specific reason for it.
It's important from a historical context to understand that the framers of the Constitution had 3 major concerns in mind when they created the ...
- 12k
88
votes
What is the most someone can lose the popular vote by but still win the electoral college?
CGP Grey has done the math in November 2011.
In the extreme case, assuming a constant turnout across all 50 states (and with the electoral votes distributed as in 2011)*, it could take only 22% of ...
- 6,737
47
votes
Accepted
Can a president win the electoral college and lose the popular vote?
There sure have been a few instances of this occurring.
2000 Election
This's the one that many people still remember. Gore won the popular vote by 0.51% while Bush won the electoral college. The ...
- 46.5k
47
votes
What is the most someone can lose the popular vote by but still win the electoral college?
I've recalculated the data for the Electoral College stats as of 2016, taken from Wikipedia. The result is 22%, full explanation below.
You only need 270 Electoral Votes to become President. This can ...
- 52.7k
47
votes
Who would become the US President if a fictional character like Cthulhu is elected?
Ignoring the absurdity of Cthulhu or any other fictional character winning the Presidential General Election, the premise as stated can't happen. Not all States accept write-in ballots. In fact, ...
- 2,339
41
votes
Accepted
Why were there only 531 electoral votes in the US Presidential Election 2016?
This is due to so-called faithless electors. Seven electors voted for a candidate other than the one they pledged to vote for. Three voted for Colin Powell, one for John Kasich, one for Ron Paul, one ...
CDJB♦
- 105k
38
votes
What is the most someone can lose the popular vote by but still win the electoral college?
84,572 votes
Assuming you're a third party longshot candidate and there are no other longshot candidates.
You only need to win one state to get elected. The easiest state to win in terms of votes is ...
- 901
38
votes
Must the Vice President preside over the counting of the Electoral College votes?
The President Pro Tempore of the Senate can do it.
In 1969, Vice President Hubert Humphrey did not participate in the count of the electoral college votes. The President Pro Tempore of the Senate took ...
- 481
37
votes
Accepted
What if there is no Presidential winner on Jan 20?
First, the mandate to Donald Trump, granted in November, 2016 ends at Noon January 20, 2021. No need for him to do anything.
The Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution deals with the situation where ...
- 1,350
37
votes
Accepted
What is the Legal Process if Electoral Certificates are Damaged?
Stealing those papers (from Congress' session) would not change the legality of their recording with the Archivist according to the Electoral Count Act (3 U.S. Code § 6)... which by the way says that ...
- 145k
32
votes
Why Would the President-elect have a Transition Visit before December 19?
More planning time and coordination is always better than less. Since the results are not in dispute, there's nothing that would bar or block the current president from getting together and planning ...
- 20.8k
32
votes
Does the Electoral College system really favor low population areas?
Is the electoral college intended to give smaller states more influence? It wouldn't seem unusual to me if it was designed so that each state has a certain amount of influence regardless of population ...
- 89.3k
31
votes
Why continue counting/certifying electors after one candidate has secured a majority?
One of the reasons why all votes are counted is that the votes still have to be recorded in the Journals of both Houses of Congress. The Vice President "opens the envelopes" for the votes to ...
- 46.5k
31
votes
Accepted
How did Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo explain why he vetoed a bill that would ban people from acting as fake electors?
You can read the letter of objections Lombardo attached to the bill when he returned it to the Nevada Senate here. His argument against the bill is essentially that it introduces "...
CDJB♦
- 105k
30
votes
Accepted
Do Presidential Campaigns often visit non-competitive states in the days right before the election?
Campaigns have their own internal polling and it can show different results than public polling. In 2016 the Trump campaign polling was far more accurate than many publicly available polls. Pulling ...
- 13.9k
29
votes
Accepted
How can the US electoral college vote be so different to the popular vote?
The electors are supposed to follow the popular vote within their state. In other words, whichever party "won" the state gets all of the electoral college votes. They don't follow the national popular ...
- 396
29
votes
Would D.C. statehood prevent a tie in the Electoral College?
No. Even if the change resulted in there being an odd number of total electoral votes, if a third candidate gets an odd number of electors, then a tie remains possible.
- 27.8k
28
votes
Accepted
Who would have won the 2016 presidency if all states' electors were allocated proportionally?
I calculated the vote allocation using the Webster/Sainte-Laguë method (based on results as of November 9, 2016) applied to each individual state:
Clinton 263
Trump 262
Johnson 10
Stein 2
...
- 456
27
votes
Accepted
Must the Vice President preside over the counting of the Electoral College votes?
Well, the Constitution says (Article II, Section 1)
The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and
House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes
shall then ...
- 6,203
27
votes
Accepted
What happens if the Vice-President were to die before presiding over the official electoral college vote count?
As you've mentioned, the 12th amendment to the Constitution, enshrined in statute in 3 U.S.C. §15 grants the role of presiding over the counting of the electoral votes in Congress to the President of ...
CDJB♦
- 105k
25
votes
Why continue counting/certifying electors after one candidate has secured a majority?
The counting of electoral votes in Congress is a ceremonial institution, like so many other things in political and social life. There's no practical reason why Presidents, Congresspeople, and other ...
- 67.7k
24
votes
How many people would it take for California to run the country?
California needs around 200 million people to control the presidency.
The Math
There are 538 Electoral College votes and a candidate needs to get 270 votes to win.
California gets 2 Electoral ...
- 1,167
24
votes
Accepted
How do electoral college votes work with Indian reservations?
Native Americans (like everyone else) register to vote in the state they are physically based in -- if they can provide an address, which can be difficult. Voter registration rules differ between ...
- 831
23
votes
Is it possible for someone to win the presidency due to faithless electors?
Yes.
According to the 12th Amendment of the US Constitution
The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot
for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be
...
- 1,512
22
votes
Can faithless electors be grounds for impeachment?
The exact text of Article II, Section 4 is:
The President, Vice President, and all civil Officers of the United States shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and conviction of, Treason, ...
- 6,570
22
votes
Who would have won the 2016 presidency if all states' electors were allocated proportionally?
Okay, I have made some excel computations. Giving each candidates a number of delegates proportional to its share of the vote in the state, without rounding (I know, if we're talking of living human ...
- 1,210
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