The other day, I lectured on the early political life of Andrew Jackson. He won the popular vote in the 1824 election, but ultimately did not win the White House. The popular vote is nice but ultimately it's the votes in the Electoral College that decide the winner of a presidential election. Well, usually. Not in the case of Jackson. That's a different story.
In 1876 Samuel Tilden won the popular vote, but a special committee gave the electoral vote to Rutherford B. Hayes. In 1888 President Grover Cleveland won the popular vote but lost the electoral vote to Benjamin Harrison. In 2000, Al Gore won the popular vote but the Supreme Court, by a vote of 5-4, gave Florida's electoral votes to George W. Bush, putting him in the White House. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but lost the vote in the Electoral College in 2016 giving the Oval Office to Donald Trump. Interesting factoid: in each case the American people wanted the Democrat candidate but ultimately it was the Republican candidate (save JQA) who entered triumphant into the White House.
A student posed the question "so what's the use of voting if the popular vote will not be counted?" Here is my feeble attempt at an answer: Go ask a government professor. Seriously.
Of course your vote will be counted. But voting is more than a number. Voting is empowerment. Voting is action. Canvassing, donating money, placing signs in your yards, volunteering, these are all things you can do to become active during the election season that starts with voting. But voting is empowerment because voting gives you the opportunity to stop and think about the country you live in. Voting allows you to answer that super important question posed by President Ronald Reagan: "Are you better off today than you were four years ago?"
What a great question! Of course, life is more complex than answering a simplistic binary question. There are all sorts of factors to consider in answering that question and those factors are personal to each voter.
I think I heard a more interesting question recently because this question forces everyone to know something about American history, and, the question is about perspective. A question that could have been asked by President Reagan and President Obama. Here's the question:
"Which side of the Edmund Pettus Bridge are you on?"
It is great to know that other people ask themselves the same question as well. " So what's the use of voting if the popular vote will not be counted?" I have thought about this question for a very long time and I have never come to understand or even come close to an answer. Why vote when your choice is being oppressed by the electoral college, right? Why is this action of the popular vote being ignored repeating itself in history? To be honest, I have no idea. The Electoral College is very complicated to understand but at the end of the day, they are the ones who determine who will be the next president. With this being said, I still strongly encourage everyone to vote. I agree with you Dr. Ross- Nazzal, voting is more like an empowerment. It is a civic duty. It is a way for us to be heard. Our vote most definitely counts. So go out and vote!
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DeleteI find myself agreeing to this, i was not able to vote to the last presidency election but now that i have the opportunity this year, i most definitely will. it is extremely important that we all do our part as citizens of this land to go ahead and vote, it is made easy to vote for a reason. you walk in, vote, leave. it is just that simple. Now of course as we have seen throughout history there are cases where one side has won majority of the popular vote but they did not win the election. I told myself earlier this year knowing the elections were coming "why even vote if he's (trump) is going to just win again, he has got all the money in the world and many people to back him up", I suppose you can say that I was misinformed, my ideas have changed dramatically now. You are absolutely right, we must all go vote, as people we must all do our part and it is made easy to go vote!! Go vote while you can, we all have a voice, go use it!!
DeleteI think voting is important. The mentality that our votes do not matter is detrimental to democracy. If that is the general view of the public, kids will begin to believe that too and never vote when they grow up to be adults. While the Electoral College is not great, thankfully the Supreme Court in Chiafalo v. Washington ruled that states can penalized its electors for not voting for the candidate they pledged to vote. In that case, it was democrats who pledged to vote Hillary and wrote in somebody else. The college is not perfect, but I do hope that it does not turn people from voting. It is important, and with the higher turnout this year, I hope for the next elections they continue to come out in droves. The more people vote, the more democracy wins. It is a civil duty that must be upheld and I hope over the next few years, Congress and the President makes it easier to vote.
DeleteI believe the voting process has been made complicated purposefully. I was listening to a podcast called "Throughline" about how we vote and it looks at how we voted from the beginning to now and how as we grew things got more complicated the more the number of eligible voters grew. Like you I believe everyone one should vote. For those wanting to see more "bang for their buck" vote in local elections as well, don't just focus on the presidency. There are a lot of people who don't realize many parts about the voting process, even people that have been voting for years. Every four years there is a big uproar about the presidency, the popular vote, and the electoral college. There is not enough about the decisions being made daily by the other branches and local municipalities.
DeleteI agree, I believe it is important to vote. It is our right to vote for the future of our country. A lot of people have the mentality that their vote would not count. Some people do not vote because they think that the opponent will automatically win even if they vote for someone else. I believe that if you can vote than you should try to cast your vote. As the child of immigrant parents, I believe it is my right to have my voice heard. My parents came to this country so that I could have a better life than they did. Voting is my civic duty.
DeleteI completely agree with your statement. I thought it was a bit funny how Dr. Ross-Nazzal said ask your government teacher and she did answer the question very parallel to how he answered the question. I used to be so confused about that question and I still am. My government teacher broke down the Electoral College vote so i do understand that better. Agree when you say "vote" because it really does have a impact, that was number one thing that my government teacher did emphasized. To get a better understanding of voting, it best to understand government subject a bit more.
DeleteIn the post three main questions appear to the reader’s eye. I will answer on only to two of them. These questions could be seen as something essential for history, due to that everyone could learn from it. Because life is a cycle, every human being has to learn from the mistakes of others for the only goal: to have an improving or even say an evolution in their way of thinking. As known, evolution is universal mechanism for the survival of the humanity. The first question that I will focus my attention on is "Are you better off today than you were four years ago?”, I start with this one because it triggers my mind to make a comparison, which is an opportunity to change my way of thinking previous to deciding something important. Even though this is not a simple question, having in mind many factors as: current stage of life, being a student with debt or having a stable job from 9 to 5 and lastly having a family, in this case kids that has different wants and needs. The main ask of the post is "so what's the use of voting if the popular vote will not be counted?", and my believe is that we should always cast our vote and trust the system.
ReplyDeleteAs explained in the post, there are several occasions in American History where Electoral College votes have prevailed over popular voting. The election process is complicated to understand for a common man. As someone who does not understand government intricacies, I would normally expect someone who gets the most votes to win the election. I believe that’s how the constitution was laid out and would continue to prevail until changes are made. In the book “Our Story: An Ancillary to US History”, Dr. Ross-Nazzal says that Hilary Clinton got more votes than all other three winners of popular votes who were denied the presidency. As these cases add up in the history of the US election, people will start questioning the system and someone should come up with a solution that enhances the weight of popular votes. Although I am not an expert to comment on the Constitution, I think the authors must have had a purpose behind formulating the complicated election process. As I scrutinized the election process in India, which is the biggest democracy in the world, I came to find out that the people do not directly elect the president or prime minister. Representatives of the majority party choose the president, which is similar to the American system in several ways. As stated in the Post, voting is empowering and action rather than just a number. We have the opportunity to raise the stakes in an election by volunteering, canvassing, etc., which would enhance our involvement. It offers us a chance to reflect on our life over the last four years and act upon it. I believe that we should be glad to be entitled to vote, which is denied to citizens in several countries throughout the world. As someone who has the option of exercising your right, it would be harmful to the system when people fail to use it and then complain about their candidate losing. As a layman, I believe that everyone should make an effort to cast their votes, which when pooled in large numbers would lead to an optimistic future.
ReplyDeleteI really love the quote from Ronald Reagan, "Are you better off today than you were four years ago?" because it makes you think and wonder what has changed within a four year span and also what needs to be improved in a political sense in order to see positive change in our nation. I agree with Professor Ross when he says that voting is more than a number, it's an active duty that emphasizes empowerment and change. We as an American nation have to take pride in our country during this active election and do the work as a civilian by volunteering, posting signs in our yards, donating money, or even by doing an extensive research on certain important political candidates. I was disappointed four years ago when Hillary Clinton did not win the election for Presidency because I thought due to the fact that she won the popular vote. I learned something back then that changed my political perspective for ever more. We should recognize the privilege we have being able to vote because some countries deprive their people the rights to have a voice to be heard. We have the option to change our country in the direction we choose, by casting our votes at the ballot, for the sake of a brighter future for us and the generations to come.
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DeleteI think it is a bit disappointing how electoral votes can win over the popular vote sometimes. Winning the popular vote should be just as important since it is the person citizens want to see as president. Although we have seen both sides of the spectrum winning, the government can be very unpredictable. Take an example John Quincy Adams that although lost both popular and electoral votes against Andrew Jackson, won the election of 1824. Just like you, I was disappointed Hilary Clinton did not win the 2016 election, I was so certain of her winning but politics can be a very difficult topic to understand specially when they are not constant. Regardless of knowing that electoral voting has the most influence when selecting a candidate, it is still important to continue to vote and get involved because we never know what difference it can make.
I as well have asked myself why we vote if the popular vote will not be counted. Why should I go out and vote if my vote wont count? As a matter of fact, that is what is keeping me from voting this upcoming election. What’s the point of voting if it wont matter? I believe that it matters because it gives us a false sense of being able to alter big events such as a presidential election. It makes us feel like we are making a difference. If who won, the popular vote and the college vote wins then one can easily say that it was the popular vote that made this decision, and many people will believe it. This is a way of giving us a false sense of control.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I grew up not caring about what goes on with the country or politics. I was ignorant about many things as I only care about myself. It wasn’t until senior year of high school when we were required to take a semester of government class that I started to learn the importance of voting. I was also one of those students who thought “what was the point in voting if my vote won’t count?” I remember my government teacher answered that question, but it’s been so long and I have forgotten. Now, I learn how important voting can be. I agree that with the statement, “Voting is empowerment. Voting is action.” Voting is our voice and I vote, not only for a better life for myself, but for the country where all my loved ones live.
ReplyDeleteI personally have a very complicated relationship with the American voting system. Early on, I truly thought that the "Popular vote" was the vote that counted and that America was truly a democratic country. My own opinion is that that America should really run as a true democratic country and have their elections based on the outcome of the popular vote. When I learned that the American system was based on the electoral college, I thought how many other Americans are unaware that this is how elections are held. While it has been centuries of the same election system, I think we are in a new era. An era where people want to be held directly accountable for whom they vote for and who is elected. We are a nation for the people and by the people so why is there a middle man involved.
ReplyDeleteI really learned how voting works in 2009 when former President Obama got elected into office. I was eight at the time and my family was showing and teaching me how voting works. I never understood popular vote vs. electoral vote till the 2017 election. I woke up the next morning seeing that President Trump had won and thought wow. This year was my first year to vote in a big election, and I felt proud. I could use my vote to make a powerful decision and show my support. Voting is very important because you can use it to be heard for who you want to support your ideas and thoughts. What sucks about voting is that who you vote for in the presidential election gets tallied, but doesn't count towards anything. When the nation as a whole vote for one person but gets someone else completely different, it feels like our voices aren't heard. We vote for who we think should run the country in our best interest, so our vote should reflect that. The country needs a big change for a lot of reasons, but we should start by our system.
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