Trump throwing his toys out of the pram

Fennel

How do they calculate the numbers in each electoral college?
state population?

No- It's determined by how many congressional representatives each state has-

In a nutshell, it wouldn't be a fair election to permit the more populated states to determine who gets to be president- If that were to happen, the more populated states along the coasts would always win and those in the interior always lose-

Is that because the coastal states tend to be democratic?

No- Just coastal- ? Opposed to interior- ?

That has completely floored me!! So if it’s one person one vote does it matter where they live?

I’m not understanding this am I?

Rosecarmel?

Let me work this out. I can perhaps begin to understand when the voting is for senators - presumably they represent say for example 10 million of the population each. Therefore more seats in the more populous coastal regions.

So voting for president.

What is on the ballot paper?

Come on the lemon explain it to me

We, the people .. ?

In order to form a more perfect union ..

.. has everything to do with the ongoing process of domestic tranquility and the pursuit of happiness- How people go about "that" in their daily lives varies from state to state-

‘The lemon’ ? ?
Touchy whitewave....I was laughing at rosecarmel’s post at
16.10.43.

Shh!

So on Election Day, after all the rigmarole of the conventions, caucuses and primaries, you troop off and vote. This results in the total number of votes for each candidate, but we learned from Clinton last time that that doesn’t necessarily result in a win.

We then go to the electoral college and this is doing my head in!! Delegates chosen by each state vote for the candidate who got the popular vote.

Totally don’t understand that!!

lemongrove

‘The lemon’ ? ?
Touchy whitewave....I was laughing at rosecarmel’s post at
16.10.43.

That was both a typing error and genuine post.

Think of it this way- Whoever wins the most votes in a state wins that states electoral college votes-

Lets say the Democrat won California, which has a bunch of electoral college votes- And it has a lot of electoral college votes because it has a lot of representatives in Congress, because it's a ginormous state and densely populated-

But the Democrat lost a bunch of other states, less populated, less represented, but none the less, lost all those electoral college votes to their Republican opponent- As a result, the Republican wound up with more electoral college votes but less popular votes because those states are less populated-

Blimey I’ve just found out that states differ in their voting system!!

The presidential election is an indirect election, in which the winner is determined by the votes cast by the electors of the electoral college ???? I’m giving up on this unless anyone can enlighten me?

rosecarmel

Think of it this way- Whoever wins the most votes in a state wins that states electoral college votes-

Lets say the Democrat won California, which has a bunch of electoral college votes- And it has a lot of electoral college votes because it has a lot of representatives in Congress, because it's a ginormous state and densely populated-

But the Democrat lost a bunch of other states, less populated, less represented, but none the less, lost all those electoral college votes to their Republican opponent- As a result, the Republican wound up with more electoral college votes but less popular votes because those states are less populated-

Thanks

Right, I get that. But who or what is the electoral college and how are they determined?

You're going to hate this .. but the process of nominating the electoral college varies by state .. and party ..

It all does very much sound like, and looks like, a sci-fi novel or movie, like The Adjustment Bureau-

But .. in every state, those that make up the electoral college cast their votes- And vote for the candidate they pledged to represent- Although they don't always do so ..

The electoral college is all down to large but poor Virginia wanting its population (including a large number of slaves) contribution to its electoral clout without actually letting those slaves have a vote.

My young friend in key swing state Michigan tells me that people in likely Democratic-voting areas are getting robotic phone calls telling them that if they vote the IRS will be on to them, or they will be tracked down for forced vaccination.

LadyHonoriaDedlock

The electoral college is all down to large but poor Virginia wanting its population (including a large number of slaves) contribution to its electoral clout without actually letting those slaves have a vote.

My young friend in key swing state Michigan tells me that people in likely Democratic-voting areas are getting robotic phone calls telling them that if they vote the IRS will be on to them, or they will be tracked down for forced vaccination.

Good grief. How can something like that be considered a legitimate election?

rosecarmel

You're going to hate this .. but the process of nominating the electoral college varies by state .. and party ..

It all does very much sound like, and looks like, a sci-fi novel or movie, like The Adjustment Bureau-

But .. in every state, those that make up the electoral college cast their votes- And vote for the candidate they pledged to represent- Although they don't always do so ..

So it doesn’t feel very democratic to me.

Do you vote your representatives directly?

My question about numbers of EC voters in each state and state population.Rosecarmel replied
"No- It's determined by how many congressional representatives each state has-"
Doesn't that boil down to the same thing?
Also, I've been listening to an American law professor on France 24 who said that there's also a provision in their constitution that if there's a long dispute on the result eventually it's up to the current vice president - Mike Pence - to settle the matter.
(As far as I understood him- he was nearly in tears.)

Fennel

My question about numbers of EC voters in each state and state population.Rosecarmel replied
"No- It's determined by how many congressional representatives each state has-"
Doesn't that boil down to the same thing?
Also, I've been listening to an American law professor on France 24 who said that there's also a provision in their constitution that if there's a long dispute on the result eventually it's up to the current vice president - Mike Pence - to settle the matter.
(As far as I understood him- he was nearly in tears.)

Strewth!!

If Biden wins by a small margin, I can see massive problems. It doesn’t bode well does it?

Whitewavemark2

If Biden wins by a small margin, I can see massive problems. It doesn’t bode well does it?

It's certainly going to make it extremely difficult. From what I've read it's surmised that Trump will claim lots of the votes (for the Democrats, of course) to be illegal..

Of course, the extraordinary mix of voting systems is a result of the fact that the USA is a federation of states, not a discrete country. They can act like little discrete countries; make their own laws, even their own trade deals...

I'm not sure of the role of Federal Law in relation to State law, i.e which is supreme? Perhaps rosecarmel can enlighten,

FT latest.

Biden 207 solid
72 leaning

Trump 83 solid
42 leaning

134 undecideds

270 to win