Does Our Vote Really Matter?

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Does Our Vote Really Matter?

by Michael Long
(Winston-Salem,NC,USA)

Al Gore was elected President of the United States by the American people. Yet Bush won based on the electoral college.

In this election we find out that the real power of the vote goes to "superdelegates" who supposedly will represent the interests of the average voter.

Will there be an election on that? Can I vote for or against the electoral college and superdelegates? I would much rather take part in that election.

But, I guess not. I'll just vote for who I like, and be thankful that I can rely on such wise and honest men in politics to decide who we ignorant peasants really want to be President. Oh, and lets not forget the "Supreme" Court.

Wasn't America supposed to be a democracy or something?

Comments for
Does Our Vote Really Matter?

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American President Elected by Electoral College
by: Janet, Editor

Thank you, Michael, for your comment, but you are incorrect.

The American President has always been elected by the Electoral College, never by popular vote. Claiming that Al Gore was elected President by the people is simply wrong.

The Electoral College was created by the founding fathers as a compromise between election of the President by Congress and election by popular vote. The representative nature of the electors resembles the representation of the people in Congress, and each state gets the same number of electors as it has members of its Congressional delegation (members of the House of Representatives plus 2 Senators). Those numbers are determined by the state's population, which is why state with larger population numbers get more electoral votes.

Thus it is entirely possible for a certain candidate to receive a majority of the popular vote, but not be elected President because of the differences in the number of electors for their states. That is where "red states" and "blue states" become important, and why the candidates traditionally focus on the states with the largest number of electoral votes.

The Electoral College process is part of the original design of the U.S. Constitution, and changing it would require a Constitutional Amendment.

Learn more about the Electoral College and how it works.

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