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It doesn't "favor" small states, but it gives extra weight to small states. This is because electors are apportioned based on the total number of seats in Congress (2 Senate seats for each state + number of House seats). Since very small-population states like Alaska and Wyoming get 3 electors, each elector actually represents fewer people than do the electors of large states such as California or Florida.
The reason for this is to force the politics of presidential campaigns to focus on more than just one region--most presidents can be elected only with the geographic support of at least two regions of the country, since lower-population regions have a significant number of electoral votes.
The Electoral College arguably favors small states as every state, no matter how small, gets at least three ECVs (Electoral College Votes), and so small states have more electoral voters per vote. This means smaller states are over-represented compared to larger ones.
For instance, Wyoming has the lowest votes per elector, and receives one ECV for every 165,000 people, whereas Massachusetts voters' votes barely count as one third of Wyoming's. Therefore, it is clear that voters in smaller states are over-represented, i.e. their votes have more weight than voters in more populous states.
Moreover, by 2004, California had 55 ECVs representing its 34 million inhabitants. Wyoming had three ECVS representing its half a million inhabitants. Therefore, California receives one ECV for every 617,000 people whereas Wyoming receives one ECV for every 165,000 people. This was extremely prominent in the 2000 presidential election, as a high proportion of small states solidly supported George W. Bush, which is why he was able to win the Electoral College despite polling 540,000 voters fewer than Al Gore.
Swing States and Winner-Take-All
The advantage to small states has been shrinking away, however, as population increases throw more House seats and electoral votes to a few large states. With the winner-take-all arrangement in these states, a candidate would need to win just the 11 largest US states (again, by a small margin), and he would have 270 electoral votes. The votes in the other 39 states would be essentially meaningless.
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Why was the electoral college put into place during the founding periods of the US?
The Electoral College is a group of citizens who are elected and act as representatives of the states in the USA, put into place to vote for, and elect the President and Vice President. It was created in 1787. Some people wanted a representative democracy, and some people wanted a direct democracy. With the Electoral College System, it was a compromise between the two. With the Electoral College System, the people could indirectly elect the President.
Which president believed in the spoils system and wanted to eliminate the electoral college?
Andrew Jackson
Why does the US have the electoral college system?
The founding fathers wanted everyone (well, property owners and white men) to be able to vote for the president and the vice president, but did not trust the system, so they put the electoral college in to have the final say on the election.
How was the electoral college founded?
The electoral college in the US is a compromise reached by the founding fathers. States with smaller populations wanted each state to just have one vote, while states with large populations wanted to have every persons vote. This was not seen as fair by the smaller state because the large states could choose the president every time. So they compromised, each state would have a set number of votes based on the size of that states population.
What was an argument of states that wanted to secede?
The president received no electoral votes from Southern states in the election.
What was an argument of states wanted to secede?
The President received no electoral votes from Southern states in the election
What was a argument of states that wanted to secede?
The president received no electoral votes from southern states before the election
What was an argument that wanted to secede?
The President received no electoral votes from Southern states in the election
What was an argument of the states that wanted to secede?
The President received no electoral votes from Southern states in the election
Why were Senate and electoral college established?
the founding fathers wanted to keep the common people from making a mistake
Why should the electoral college be eliminated?
Because the electoral college is an outdated, easily corrupted system. I truly believe that Bush got elected because of corruption in the voting academy. You see, few people realize that when you vote for a president you are actually voting for a board of of people to decide who you want as your leader. And that's not my opinion, look it up, that is basically all electoral college is.
Why do many Americans support amendment that would abolish the electoral college and require direct election of the president?
There have been elections (such as 2000), where the candidate who won the majority of all votes cast did not win a majority of the electoral college. Some people believe that the president should be elected directly by the people so this cannot happen. The electoral college gives smaller states a slightly larger vote proportionally, and just as having two houses of Congress, balances between state's rights and simple majority. The founding fathers recognized that states with large population could control elections, while states with smaller population wanted a voice in their government. Therefore, the electoral college gives two votes to each state, plus one vote for each congressional district.
