In the 2024 presidential election, more than 150 million Americans cast their votes for president of the United States. However, just because a candidate gets the majority of citizens’ votes does not necessarily mean they win the election. This is because the U.S. has an Electoral College. 

The Electoral College consists of 538 members who vote to select the next president. In most states (except Maine and Nebraska), whichever candidate wins the majority of votes in the state wins all of the Electoral College votes for that state. For example, imagine that Florida is assigned 30 electors, and 51% of voters in Florida vote for Candidate Y. Then all 30 of the electors picked by Candidate Y in Florida would get to vote in the Electoral College. Even if the other candidates won 49% of the citizens’ votes, they would get 0 electoral votes in Florida.

The U.S. Constitution assigns each state the number of electors equal to the number of its senators and representatives in Congress. The number of representatives is based on the size of the state’s population, whereas each state gets two senators no matter its population size. Because every state gets the same number of senators, states with smaller populations end up with slightly more influence in presidential elections.

Some people believe the U.S. should switch to a popular vote system. An election based on the popular vote is one in which the candidate who wins the most citizens’ votes wins the election. A Gallup poll found that 58 percent of Americans would prefer an election based on the popular vote, while 39 percent would prefer to keep the Electoral College system. 

Those who support changing to the popular vote argue that each voter’s choice should have the same value no matter where they live. They also say it is unfair that a candidate could win the presidential election even if the majority of people voted for the other candidate. Most presidents have won both the Electoral College and the popular vote, but that’s not always true.

Those who support the Electoral College say it represents the interests of all states in a balanced way. They feel that giving more weight to smaller and more rural states forces candidates to pay attention to the issues that are important in these states. They worry that urban areas would get all of the political focus were it not for the electoral college. They may also point out that the electoral college is an important part of U.S. history and origins, as it’s in the Constitution. 

Do you think the U.S. should use the popular vote to elect its president? Or is it better to stick with the Electoral College?