We can expect after the count of ballots this November that there will be repeated calls to abolish the Electoral College especially if one party wins the popular vote but loses the presidency.
Let's look back at the 2016 Presidential Election when these calls were the loudest.The popular vote in the chart below shows Mrs. Clinton with a 2.8 million plus vote lead over President-elect Mr. Trump. Because of Mrs Clinton's dramatic popular vote lead, the mainstream media, Democrats, progressives and political pundits from academia were all calling for getting rid of the Electoral College. In their mind Mrs. Clinton's popular vote victory proves who the country and its citizens really selected to be President of these U.S. except for this antiquated Constitutional system we call the the Electoral College.
|
Presidential
Candidate
|
Political
Party
|
Popular Vote*
|
Electoral Vote
|
||
|
Donald J. Trump
|
Republican
|
62,913,088
|
46.1%
|
306
|
56.9%
|
|
Hillary Clinton
|
Democratic
|
65,756,948
|
48.2%
|
232
|
43.1%
|
|
Others
|
Others
|
7,731,591
|
5.7%
|
0
|
0.0%
|
|
Total 136,401,627
|
538
|
||||
But before we get on a bandwagon to repeal or replace the Electoral College, let’s take a closer look at the 2016 presidential election results.
|
State
|
Clinton
|
Trump
|
Popular Vote Margin
|
|
U.S. Total
|
65,756,948 (48.2%)
|
62,913,088(46.1%)
|
Clinton +2,843,860
|
|
California
|
8,719,198
|
4,463,932
|
Clinton +4,255,266
|
|
New York
|
4,227,211
|
2,690,285
|
Clinton +1,536,926
|
|
Illinois
|
3,090,729
|
2,146,015
|
Clinton + 944,714
|
|
U.S.
Totals minus California, New York
& Illinois
|
49,719,
810 (45.3%)
|
53,612,856
(49.0%)
|
Trump
+3,893,046
|
The three blue states in the chart above gave Hillary Clinton her biggest margin in her popular vote victory: California with a popular vote margin of 4.255 million votes, New York with a margin of victory of 1.537 million votes and Illinois with a margin of victory of ~ 945,000 votes. Altogether, those three states provided Hillary Clinton with a margin of victory of 6.7 million votes. However, if we remove those three very populous states, the U.S. totals of the other 47 states and the District of Columbia give President-elect Trump, a margin of victory of 3.893 million votes.
Looking even closer below at the largest cities in those three states, Los Angeles County, Chicago Cook County and New York City, those cities together delivered a margin of victory for Mrs. Clinton of 3.871 million votes. And once again if we remove those three cities from the U.S. totals, President Trump wins the popular vote by 1.027 million votes.
|
City
|
Clinton
|
Trump
|
Popular Vote Margin
|
|
U.S. Total
|
65,756,948 (48.2%)
|
62,913,088(46.1%)
|
Clinton +2,843,860
|
|
Los Angeles County
|
1,893,770
|
620,285
|
Clinton + 1,273,485
|
|
Chicago (Cook) County
|
1,528,582
|
440,213
|
Clinton + 1,088,369
|
|
New York City
|
1,969,920
|
461,174
|
Clinton + 1,508,746
|
|
City Total
|
5,392,272
|
1,521,672
|
Clinton +3,870,600
|
U.S..Totals minus Los Angeles, New
York City & Chicago
|
60,364,676
|
61,391,416
|
Trump + 1,026,740
|
Some may look at this and conclude that the strength of Mrs. Clinton and the Democratic party is in key states which have concentrated blocs of liberal and progressive voters in large cities which will always contribute significantly to the popular vote for a Democrat candidate. But as the Electoral College results show in this election, the votes from these three key states and cities should never override the wishes and votes from the other 47 individual states both large and small in our Union. Switching to the popular vote only in future Presidential elections will guarantee that these three cities and states may most likely determine a long line of future liberal and progressive Presidents.What do you think? As for me and my house, long live our Electoral College.
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