Current Electoral Vote Distribution
(VoteFromAbroad.org, 2012 electoral vote distribution map)
This map shows the distribution of electoral votes per state per its population in the 2012 Obama vs. Romney presidential race. Note that California has the most electoral votes at 55 while Alaska, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, Delaware and Washington D.C. have the least electoral votes at 3 per state. Also note that the red areas are strongly GOP, the pink areas are likely GOP, the dark blue areas are strongly democratic, the light blue areas are likely democratic, the white areas with a blue border are barely democratic, plain white areas are exactly tied, and white areas with a pink border are barely GOP (VoteFromAbroad.org, 2012 electoral vote distribution map). The number of electors from each state is determined on the basis of the number of seats in the House that state has and the number of senates from the state, which is always two (Kimberling, 2008).
With an idea of the distribution of electoral votes across states, a specific example of a recurring problem within the electoral college system can be examined below in the 2000 Bush vs. Gore Election:
The Effects of Electoral Vote Distribution in the 2000 Bush v. Gore Election
It can be easily determined by looking at the above pie charts that Bush lost the popular votes but won the electoral college votes. It hardly seemed equitable that Gore could win the popular votes but lose the electoral college votes. This became a very dramatic and contentious election and rightly so, as many believe this to be one of the flaws of the electoral college system. The winner of the presidential election seemed to balance on Florida's votes with Bush slightly ahead of Gore. Because the Florida votes were so close, an automatic machine recount was done based on Florida law. This narrowed the gap even more between Bush and Gore. Gore's team quickly acted to prevent Bush from being declared the winner and filed suit in the Florida Supreme Court with the demand of a manual recount of certain counties, which was granted. Bush's team felt the recount was being done unfairly and filed suit in the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the manual recounts, and the U.S. Supreme Court sided with Bush and sent the case back to the Florida Supreme Court to reconsider. A Florida Supreme Court judge then heard the retrial and sided in favor of Bush. Gore's team appealed the decision, and the case was again sent to the U.S. Supreme Court. The U.S. Supreme Court sided once again with Bush and declared the decision final. On one side of the coin, Gore supporters argued that the U.S. Supreme Court stole the election for Bush. On the other side of the coin, Bush supporters felt Florida Supreme Court was trying to steal the votes for Gore. Without the electoral college system, Gore would have plainly won the votes, and such contentions would have been avoided (Bennett, 2012).
Bennett, R. (2012, July 09). Robert Bennett: History of the Bush vs. Gore election. Retrieved from http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765588622/History-of-the-Bush-vs-Gore-election.html?pg=all
Kimberling, W.C. (2008). The Electoral College: excerpt from an original document located at Jackson County, MO Election Board. Retrieved from http://useelectionatlas.org/INFORMATION/INFORMATION/electcollege_procon.php
VoteFromAbroad.org. (2012, October 03). 2012 electoral vote distribution map [Web Map]. Retrieved from http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2012/Pres/Maps/Oct03.html
