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FULL INTERVIEW: Political science professor discusses the Electoral College
Robert Alexander, a political science professor at Ohio Northern University and author of 'Representation and the Electoral College' breaks down the history and representation of the Electoral College.
WASHINGTON - When it comes to electing a U.S. president, a majority of Americans prefer the popular vote over a winner being determined by the Electoral College, according to a new Gallup poll.
The poll, conducted between Sept. 3 and Sept. 15, found that 58% of Americans favor amending the Constitution to elect presidents based on the popular vote, compared to 38% who would rather keep the current system where the winner is determined by Electoral College votes.
Gallup said this level of support for a popular-vote system "has been consistent in most Gallup surveys" since 2000, when the question was first asked.
"The main exception was an even division in a poll taken after the 2016 election, in which Hillary Clinton won the popular vote and Donald Trump the electoral vote," Gallup said in its report about the poll, published on Sept. 27. "Although this situation has been rare, it also occurred in 2000."
Gallup also noted that a differently-worded question has found higher support for a popular-vote constitutional amendment in the past, including November 1968 amid a closely-contested presidential election between Republican nominee Richard Nixon and incumbent Democratic vice president Hubert Humphrey.
In that survey, Gallup said 80% of U.S. adults said they "would approve" of an amendment to "do away with the Electoral College and base the election of a president on the total vote cast throughout the nation."
"The November 1968 poll was the high point in support for measurements using that question wording, though most other surveys found at least two-thirds of the public in favor, including in May 1968 (66%), January 1977 (73%) and November 1980 (67%). The lone exception was a January 1967 poll in which 58% approved," Gallup said.
How does the Electoral College work?
The Electoral College is a group of intermediaries who choose the president and vice president of the U.S. It consists of 538 members, one for each U.S. senator and representative.
After a vote is cast for president, it goes to a statewide tally. In 48 states and Washington, D.C., the winner gets all the electoral votes for that state. Maine and Nebraska assign their electors using a proportional system.
To win the presidential election, a candidate needs the vote of at least 270 electors—more than half of all electors.
In most cases, a projected winner is announced on election night in November or in the days after. However, the actual Electoral College vote takes place in mid-December when the electors meet in their states.
Like in 2016, it’s possible to win the Electoral College but lose the popular vote. This also happened in 2000, and three times in the 1800s, according to USA.gov.
What Democrats and Republicans favor
When it comes to political parties, Gallup observed some differences in opinions among Democratic and Republican voters on the issue.
Democrats have been consistently more likely than Republicans, and independents, to favor amending the Constitution to base the presidential election winner on the popular vote since 2000, Gallup said.
Currently, 82% of Democrats support doing so, it added.
Following the 2016 election when Clinton won the popular vote and Trump the electoral vote, 17% of Republicans were in favor of having the president be chosen by popular vote, while 81% wanted to keep the Electoral College system, Gallup said.
Republican support since then has increased back up to 32%, but it remains below where it was before 2016, the polling company noted. Sixty-six percent of Republicans currently favor keeping the Electoral College system.
Meanwhile, 60% of independents favor amending the Constitution to base the presidential winner on the popular vote, Gallup said – adding that the figure is a similar amount of support to what it was in 2000.