Trump-Harris Clash Sparks Renewed Debate Over Electoral College System

Photo : AP

When political outsider Donald Trump defied expectations to defeat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, he called the victory "beautiful." However, this triumph sparked confusion and frustration among many, particularly given that Clinton secured nearly three million more votes nationwide than her Republican opponent. The situation left non-Americans especially perplexed that the candidate with the second-highest vote count was declared president.

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Trump's win exemplified the complexities of the U.S. electoral system, which mandates that candidates must secure enough individual states to accumulate at least 270 of the 538 Electoral College votes needed to win the presidency. This system, enshrined in the U.S. Constitution in 1787, was intended as a compromise between direct elections by the populace and election by Congress, which was seen as less democratic.

As the 2024 election approaches, where Trump faces off against Democrat Kamala Harris, the debate surrounding the Electoral College is reigniting. The 538 electors gather in their respective state capitals after the presidential election to officially cast their votes. To win, a candidate must achieve a majority of these electors—270 votes.

The Electoral College structure means that each state has a number of electors equal to its congressional representation: one for each member of the House of Representatives plus two for the Senate. Consequently, larger states like California, with 54 electors, and Texas, with 40, receive more attention during campaigns than smaller states like Wyoming and Vermont, which have only three electors each. The U.S. capital, Washington D.C., also has three electors despite lacking voting representation in Congress.

Most electors are local officials or party leaders, and their names are not listed on ballots. The system is designed such that, in nearly all states (except Nebraska and Maine, which allocate some electors by congressional district), the candidate who receives the most votes is awarded all of that state's electoral votes.

In November 2016, Trump won 306 electoral votes while Clinton received 227, leading to renewed discussion about the legitimacy of a system that allowed a candidate to win the presidency despite losing the popular vote—a phenomenon that has occurred five times in U.S. history. Notably, this includes John Quincy Adams in 1824 and George W. Bush in 2000, the latter involving a contentious Supreme Court decision regarding Florida's electoral votes that ultimately granted Bush the presidency despite losing the nationwide popular vote.

The debate surrounding the Electoral College has persisted over the years, with countless proposals made to amend or abolish it. However, none have succeeded, and the system remains in place. With the 2024 election expected to be closely contested, the Electoral College is once again in the spotlight.

Importantly, nothing in the Constitution mandates how electors must vote, which has led to the existence of "faithless electors." Some states have laws requiring electors to align with their state's popular vote, and in 2020, the Supreme Court ruled that states could penalize electors who do not comply. Nevertheless, faithless electors have yet to change the outcome of any election.

Electors are scheduled to meet on December 17, 2024, to cast their votes for president and vice president. U.S. law mandates that they convene on the first Tuesday after the second Wednesday in December. Congress will then convene on January 6, 2025, to certify the election results—an event anticipated with caution, especially in light of the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, where supporters of Trump attempted to overturn the certification of Joe Biden's victory.

This time, Kamala Harris, as vice president, will preside over the certification process. On January 20, 2025, the newly elected president is set to be sworn in, concluding another chapter in the ongoing evolution of the U.S. electoral process.

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