How This Shit Works

[Tecumsehsbones]

All quotes are from the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

"The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President"

Got that? Nobody hops on his horsie and rides to Washington. The electors (equal to the total number of Congresscritters the state has, plus two) vote in their states. Oddly enough, they vote for President and Vice-President separately.

"and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists 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"

That is, of course, electoral votes, not popular votes. In case you're wondering, the President of the Senate is Michael "Tup" Pence.

"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 be counted"

We hope the job won't be too big for Tup. You'll note that there will be a lot of hostile eyes on him.

Maybe the fly will help.

"The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed"

Didja get that? The top vote-getter (again, of electoral votes, not the popular vote) wins, but ONLY IF SHE/HE has a simple majority. If it's a three-or-more way plurality with nobody getting a simple majority, we move on to. . .

"if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President."

Got it? The Congresscritters (Representatives) vote from among the top three. But wait! Ain't that easy. . .

"But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice."

In other words, the state House of Representatives delegations each have one vote, to be decided amongst themselves. Need at least 34 states to vote, and to win, somebody needs to get 26 votes out of a possible 50.

If none of that happens. . .

"if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President"

Just like if Plague-rat popped his clogs.

"The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice."

Blah, blah, blah. . . if there's no simple majority, the Senate picks the Veep.

 

[Hoid]

This shit does not work.

Your elections are a joke.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

This shit does not work.
Your elections are a joke.

On the upside, our presidents usually get more than 40% of the popular vote.

More'n you can say.

 

[Hoid]

We don't have a president.

And no, the US president never gets 40% of the popular vote. Even Obama only got 51% of
59% turnout which - and excuse my math - is about 30% of the popular vote?

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

We don't have a president.

You don't have a PM either.

 

[Cliffy]

You don't have a PM either.

according to conservatives... They think our PM is a dope. They want to elect a Trump wannabe.

 

[Blackleaf]

On the upside, our presidents usually get more than 40% of the popular vote.
More'n you can say.

There are only two of them in the race, so there's a good chance one will get more than 40%. In fact, they usually get more than 50%.

In Canada and Britain, we could have three or four vying to be PM and could have 20 political parties taking part. The votes are spread out more.

 

[Blackleaf]

Even Obama only got 51% of
59% turnout which - and excuse my math - is about 30% of the popular vote?

How the f*ck can somebody win on 30% of the vote in a two-horse race?

 

[Jinentonix]

according to conservatives... They think our PM is a dope. They want to elect a Trump wannabe.

Blah blah blah. All Conservatives equal Trump, blah blah blah. Maybe if the Chretien Liberals hadn't been such predatory f*ckers we'd still have an actual federal PC party and not some mishmash party of PCs and those somewhat farther right of center.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

There are only two of them in the race, so there's a good chance one will get more than 40%. In fact, they usually get more than 50%.
In Canada and Britain, we could have three or four vying to be PM and could have 20 political parties taking part. The votes are spread out more.

There are usually four or five in the race. Your ignorance doesn't shape reality.

 

[justfred99]

I was wondering if I could, as a Canadian be one of the chosen people to be in the "Electoral College!" It is quite confusing to a Canadian why the USA has the College in the first place. Why do I vote, along with say the Majority in a said state, when the Electoral College can vote for the other party? How can someone be put on this Electoral College if they favor one party? To me that is a conflict of Interest and they should not be allowed to be there.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

I was wondering if I could, as a Canadian be one of the chosen people to be in the "Electoral College!" It is quite confusing to a Canadian why the USA has the College in the first place. Why do I vote, along with say the Majority in a said state, when the Electoral College can vote for the other party? How can someone be put on this Electoral College if they favor one party? To me that is a conflict of Interest and they should not be allowed to be there.

There are no limitations on who can be an elector. The Electoral College is established by the Constitution, which says "Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or person holding an office of trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed an elector."
-- U.S. Const., Art. II, sec. 2 (emphasis mine).

This means, effectively, that the President is chosen by the electors, and the electors are chosen by the state legislatures. Subsequent Supreme Court decisions have held that the state legislatures must "direct" by legislation, which is to say the law has to pass both Houses of the state legislature (one in Nebraska, which has a one-chamber legislature) and be signed by the state governor. Currently, every state law says that the electors will be selected pursuant to a popular election in the state, but that is not a requirement. The state legislature could pass a law that simply says the state legislature will select the electors. New York did so until 1836, and in the Bush/Gore election in 2000, the Republican-dominated legislature of Florida threatened to pass a law to select an alternate slate of electors if the election went against Bush.

So technically, the President is elected by the states, not by the people. And that's how the guy who gets fewer popular votes can be elected President.