Difference between electoral college and popular vote?

Answer 1

The popular vote is the number of individuals who voted for a candidate.

The electoral vote refers to the 538 representatives in the electoral college that ultimately determine the outcome of a presidential election. The number of electoral representatives in each state depends on population.

Rather than directly voting for the president, United States citizens vote for representatives in the electoral college. Electors are technically free to vote for anyone, but tend to votes for candidates their constituency voted for.

Answer 2

The popular vote is the total number of people who voted in an election (for example, Bobby Goodside 46,014, Django Gutierrez 29,075)

The electoral vote is the number of points a candidate receives nationwide, but the person with the highest popular vote in a state gets the points for a state. The points are based on the population of the state.

See an electoral map with current poll standings between McCain and Obama:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/maps/obama_vs_mccain/?map=10

Answer 3

The 12th amendment to the US Constitution states that "Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President" and then "they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate". This is the electoral college. This is how the President of the United States is selected.

Each state may pick these electors in whatever way it wants. It is a custom, but not a requirement under the Constitution, that a popular vote is held in each state for the selection process. When you "vote for president" you are actually voting for an elector who agrees with your choice.

Never in the history of the United States has the president actually been elected by a popular referendum.

Answer 4

Popular votes are the votes cast by the ordinary citizens , Electoral votes are cast only by electors, who are the officials elected by the popular voters to cast their state's vote and elect the President. Each elector get one vote and larger states are allowed to have more electors. There are 537 electors in all. There are as many popular votes as there as registered voters who actually vote.

Answer 5

The popular vote is what you cast in the election - it is the sum total of each vote as cast by each voter.

The electoral vote is more complicated. When the Constitution was written, the writers were very concerned about something called "the tyranny of the majority" - when a simple popular vote could dramatically skew elections. To avoid this, the writers developed a system in which you couldn't simply take a majority of the voters - a president had to win a majority of the voters in at least half of the states. This system is called the electoral college.

In the electoral college, each state gets the same number of votes as the total number of Congressional members (number of Representatives plus two Senators). Each state's popular vote is tallied up and then awarded to the candidate who has the most votes. The candidate then seats "electoral voters" from his/her political party (who almost invariably vote for the candidate who seated them). The candidate with the most electoral votes is the one who wins the election.

Answer 6

The U.S. Electoral College system is a system of indirect election. In accordance with Article II of the United States Constitution, electoral votes determine the President and Vice President of the United States. The electors are elected by direct popular vote in each state and each candidate for elector swears in advance whom he will vote for. The electors from each of the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia then cast their electoral votes to elect the President and Vice President of the United States.

Examples of direct popular elections are elections of the representatives in the U. S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.

Answer 7

The electoral college elected the US President. The members of the college are called electors and the votes they can are electoral votes. Popular votes are the votes cast by the voters on election day. These votes elect the electors. There are millions of popular votes but only 538 electoral votes.

Answer 8

This is a simple comparison between an election where the candidate with the majority of the votes wins.This assumes that there are no complications or voter fraud or lawsuits. In a given state two candidates are running for governor. The votes are counted and the person with the most votes is elected to be governor.In a US presidential election, voters cast their votes for the candidate of their choice. Once the votes are counted, the winning candidate now will receive at the Electoral College in December, all of the electoral votes from the state just discussed. The Electoral votes are not in any way proportioned on the basis of the popular vote.

Answer 9

Popular votes are the votes of the general public. Electoral votes are the votes of the 538 electors appointed to elect the President and Vice President.

Answer 10

none