Whats your opinion on voting

[jeffgordon]

I have a few questions on Voting. EX. (voting for the President) How are votes counted? They say everyone who votes, their vote counts, right? For each state at what point do they determine a canidate won that state? Is the answer in percentages? Say for example New York State, Say 1500 people voted: Say 1000 of the people voted for John C. and the remaining 500 people voted for bush: Half of 1500 would be 750 people. At the point 751 people voted for John C. would this determin that John C. has won NYS?
Also if that is the case the remaining 249 people that voted for John C. does their vote get disregared and thrown out? This being said does every vote really count towards deciding the winner. If I voted I want my vote to count. Another question is how does the electoral college really work, and what is the definition of electoral college? Is the electoral college a computer that decides or is it real people? How many states does a canidate have to win before be determined the winner? Say a canidate wins more states than his apponet, can the Electoral College determin they are the loser? Also in the past their have been major problems with voting booths, and voting by mail. The people that monitor the booths, who do they report the numbers to? Is it possible they could tamper with the machine, (the numbers) to alter the outcome? Then you have the whole recount issue. When they recount votes, throw votes out and add votes. I know things aren't perfect, but with as many hands in the so called cookie jar is it possible their could be lies, cheats, and deseption? Your thoughts, opinions and knowleadge is appreiated.
Thank you

[mikesilvia]

This is a great question!

Voting for President is different than voting for governor because of state versus federal law. Each state is allowed to have differences. For instance, in Louisiana, you must win a majority (at least 50%) to win the governorship out right. If not, then their is a run off against the top 2 candidates. For instance, let says 20 people enter the race and the top person gets 30% of the vote, #2 gets 21% of the vote and the others get much lower. There is a run off against the top two to decide who wins the governorships.

When voting for President, Senate or congress the person with the most votes wins. You can become President with 42% of the vote like Bill Clinton did in 1992. If there was a run off for President you may never have heard of Bill Clinton as George Bush Sr. would have likely won any run off once Ross Perot was out of the way as he won 19% of the vote.

I am a big proponent of the Electoral College. Basically, the founding fathers developed this system to make it so STATES vote for President and not the majority of people. Each state has delegates that get to vote for president based on their population size. For instance, in 1992 Texas was worth 32 Electoral Votes and Florida was worth 25. If the majority of the population of the state of Florida votes for Bill Clinton, then all of the Electorates (25 of them) must vote for Bill Clinton (technically they don't have to!).

This system was built out because the U.S. was founded as a Federalist country. Most Americans fail to understand this and believe the popular vote decides the winner in a presidential race. That is simply not true. Here is the definition of Federalism.

At the core, political federalism is a political philosophy in which a group or body of members are bound together (Latin: foedus, covenant) with a governing representative head. The term federalism is also used to describe a system of government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and constituent political units (like states or provinces), Federalism is the system in which the power to govern is shared between the national & state governments, creating what is often called a federation. Proponents are often called federalists.

In Canada, federalism means opposition to sovereigntist movements (usually that of Quebec). In Europe, "federalist" is often used to describe those who favor a stronger federal government (or European Union government) and weaker provincial governments. The same is historically true in the United States, with those who generally favor a confederation, or weaker federal government and stronger state governments, being called "anti-federalists".

The Swiss constitution and the writings of two British observers, Albert Dicey and James Bryce, were influential on the early theory of political federalism. Ecclesiastical federalism preceded said political federalism by a couple of millennia.

The popular vote is just a number. When you go to elect a President in say Texas, you are voting for the State of Texas to vote for President. For instance, in 2004 residents of Texas voted for President Bush, so the electorates voted for President Bush.

I am for this system because it means EVERY state has a vote even Wyoming, Hawaii and other small states. If we went with the popular vote then the top 10 biggest cities would elect the President, not 50 states. When races are close like they have been this means a Presidential hopeful must listen to all states in order to get their votes.

This system is not perfect, but it was written by our founding fathers, most of them who spoke 3-4 languages and were very smart.

[chljoe]

I think a lot of the time people confuse democracy with everyone has a say and Mike hit it with getting people confusing the popular vote with the Electoral college. I also think many people do not fully understand what the function of the Electoral College is.

[gerald hewitt]

The Founding Fathers intended the election of the President to account for the popular vote, yet have a cheque on it. It was thought that the Commander in Chief should be ultimately decided upon by the high standing citizens of each state with careful regard to the citizen's ballots. College politics courses term our system a republic with democratic institutions. And it is clearly a damn sight better than the monarchy from which we came.
George Washington instituted the custom of a President serving only two terms as the populace was more than ready to allow him a third term and beyond. He set the precedent because he wanted to ensure that the power of the Presidsent never became similar to a monarchy. It later became law.

[chljoe]

We are technically a Constitutional Democratic Republic, and I don't think many Americans understand that.