The 2024 Election

Popular Vote versus Electoral College Results

One of the many problems with the Electoral College system of voting for President is that most states vote decidedly Republican or Democrat. Only seven states, called swing states, would decide the outcome of the election in 2024 because their votes could go either way.

Donald Trump gained the most votes of any candidate in the 2024 Presidential election, but he only won a plurality, not the majority of votes. In fact, he won 49.9% of the popular vote, compared to Kamala Harris, who won 48.3%. So where did the other 1.8% of the vote go? To third-party candidates.

The other candidates running in the Presidential election included Robert Kennedy (American Independence), Jill Stern (Green), Chase Oliver (Libertarian), and Cornel West (party names varied by state such as Progressive / Unity / Justice for All / United Citizens / Independent / Legal Marijuana Now / Peace and Justice / Aurora). Nevada also allowed None of the Above.

In spite of the popular vote, the electoral collage vote was slanted toward low population states, with a skewed vote of 312 votes for Trump and 226 for Harris for a total of 538. So what would happen if we modified the Electoral College votes to be closer to the popular vote?

The Electoral College allows each State to have one vote for each Representative, plus one vote for each of its two Senators. If we remove the votes for Senators, then we have 436 electoral votes total which is 435 members of the House of Representatives plus 1 elector for the District of Columbia. The electoral votes then become 248 votes for Trump and 188 for Harris. So why does the electoral vote count still not resemble the popular vote? Because most states do not divide their electors based on popular vote but by winner take all. Only a few states divide their votes by district to split their electoral votes between candidates.


270 to Win

So the Electoral College is not just skewed by adding an extra two votes for each state, but by the state governments putting a thumb on the scale themselves. The Electoral College does not come close to representing the popular vote. It is a corrupt system that should be abolished in favor of the popular vote. Donald Trump would still win in 2024, but by an honest count where the vote of every citizen would be important, not just votes in swing states.


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