There was serious confusion among my extended family after Election Day in 2016. Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton clearly gained more individual votes than Republican nominee Donald Trump — nearly 3 million more. But Trump clearly, and with room to spare, won the only vote total that mattered: the Electoral College.
“I thought the person who the most people voted for was president,” one family member who voted for Trump told me.
Fast forward to today: It all could happen again. The national polls tend to give a slight advantage to Vice President Kamala Harris. Yet the states needed to win slightly favor the former president. And with the underpolling of Trump voters in past cycles, it would be reasonable to give him the edge.
Much discussion about the Electoral College’s merits rests on thinly veiled partisan hopes. Democrats harbor frustration at the prospect of winning more popular votes than Republicans in a loss for the third time in 25 years. Republicans know the Electoral College tends to favor them and wish the system to go on to maintain that advantage.
But we should consider the less partisan arguments for and against how we select our president.
