The presidential elections in the United States rely on what’s known as the Electoral College system. Once pilloried by Donald Trump, the president now says it’s “far better for the USA”. But it’s certainly not without its detractors.

The system means that even if one candidate wins significantly more votes than the other – as Hillary Clinton did against Trump in 2016 – they may not make it to the White House.

The Electoral College system has become increasingly controversial and could prove a major point of contention again when next month’s election numbers roll in.


Here’s how it works.

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President Donald Trump lost the popular vote by three million votes in 2016 but won the Electoral College.

What is the Electoral College?
The Electoral College is the group of people that elect the United States President and Vice President. When the public head to the polls, they aren’t actually voting directly for the presidential candidates, but for ‘electors’. Each state is allocated a certain number of electoral votes, depending on its population.


Why does the Electoral College exist?
The electoral college system was set up by the Founding Fathers of the United States in 1787. Because of the size of the country and the lack of communication available at the time, a popular vote was rejected, because it was feared people would simply vote for their local candidate, so big states would always dominate.

Who appoints the electors?
The political parties in each state appoint the electors. So, if you vote for Joe Biden and he wins the popular vote in that state, electors chosen by the Democrats will vote for him to take the presidency.

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A map showing the Electoral College system and the number of votes for each state.
In the Electoral College system, it's first to collect enough states to reach 270. Source: 270ToWin


Do electors have to vote for their party candidate?
They don’t have to, but 99 per cent of the time they do. When an elector doesn’t vote for their party candidate, they are deemed a ‘faithless elector.’ In 15 states, votes from faithless electors are removed, penalised or cancelled, but in the other states there’s no punishment for doing so. Faithless electors have never changed the result of an election.

How many electoral votes does each state have?
Every state has at least three votes. These represent the two senators and one representative in congress. Seven states, as well as Washington DC, have just three votes. California is the most populated state, so has the biggest number of electoral votes with 55, followed by Texas with 38, and New York and Florida with 29 each. In all states, apart from Nebraska and Maine, there’s a winner-take-all system. This means the candidate who wins the most votes in that state earns all of the state’s electoral college votes.

How many electoral college votes will win the Presidency?
There are 538 electors in the Electoral College. A candidate has to win 270 electoral votes, which is half of the electoral college votes plus one, to reach the White House.

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Joe Biden (left) and Kamala Harris (right)
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris make up the Democratic ticket trying to win back the White House. Source: Getty

Can someone win the popular vote but lose the election?
Yes. It’s happened in five elections in US history.

In the 2016 election Trump won 306 electoral votes to Clinton’s 232 – but Clinton amassed 65.9 million votes compared to Trump’s 63 million. Because Trump got more votes by a small margin in a few key swing states, this means he gained the electoral votes in these states, despite Clinton having more national votes overall.

The same thing happened in 2000 when Al Gore won 544,000 more votes than George W Bush, but Bush won by 271 electoral votes to 266 (one elector didn’t cast a vote).


It also happened in 1824 when Adam Jackson won the popular vote but lost the electoral college votes to John Quincy Adams, in 1876 when Samuel Tilden lost the electoral vote to Rutherford B Hayes despite winning the popular vote, and in 1888 when Benjamin Harrison got to the White House despite losing the popular vote to Grover Cleveland.

Could it happen again?
Yes, potentially. Although it’s previously only happened a handful of times, there’s a belief that as American demography changes, the electoral college vote will become more distorted. This is because in major cities, where there is usually strong Democratic support, the population is becoming more heavily concentrated. Because of the proportion of electoral college votes, this can mean that the states where most people live, such as California and Florida, are underrepresented in the electoral college. For example, one electoral vote in California represents 718,000 people – that’s three times as many voters as one electoral vote in Wyoming which represents 193,000 people.

Are there any advantages to the electoral college system?
It usually reflects the popular vote. It also means that candidates need to get a spread of votes across the country.

Will the electoral college system ever change?
Some democrats, including former Democratic presidential nominees Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, are calling for an overhaul of the system. They want to get rid of the electoral college system completely, and replace it with the popular vote, so whoever gets the most votes wins the Presidency.

However, this would mean changing the US constitution. This would require both the house and the Senate to give a two-thirds majority, as well as 38 out of 50 state assemblies to agree to it – something many experts believe is almost impossible.

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Lekki Shootings: Olowu Of Kuta Demands Probe Of Amnesty International, Advises Government To Empower Youths

The Olowu of Kuta in Ayedire Local Government area of Osun state, Oba Adekunle Oyelude Makama has called for a probe of the Amnesty International for announcing that it tracked troops of the Nigerian Army from Bonny Camp to the Lekki Toll Gate, Lagos state on Tuesday, October 20.

Oba Makama made the call in a statement made seen by AMILOADED on Thursday while also appealing to Federal and state governments to intensify the implementation of programmes and policies designed to empower millions of struggling youths across the country.

Amnesty International had on Wednesday released what it called the ‘timeline of troop movements to the Lekki Toll Gate during the EndSARS protests’.

The Oba, who said Amnesty International had the right to operate legally anywhere, however, contended that as an international NGO, the association claiming to have tracked troops of a sovereign nation and announcing same amounted to attacks on national security.

He added that as a Nigerian, he was worried that a foreign NGO could admit carrying out espionage activities against the Nigeria Army with an air of impunity.

He, therefore, asked relevant authorities to probe the claim, and possibly extradite them from Nigeria.
“I can't imagine a foreign NGO operating in America to be so bold and claimed he tracked troops movement from pentagon to a particular location and still remains in American soil,” the Oba said.

He further appealed for calm across the country while urging Nigerian youths to make their legitimate claims and ventilate other grievances they may have in future peacefully, stressing that it was in an atmosphere of harmony that progress could be achieved.

However, Oba Oyelude commiserated with all Nigerians who lost their loved ones and properties in the crises praying that God would wipe off their tears.

He also mourned the security officers who died in the line of duty noting that their services not to abandon the families left behind by the gallant officers.

Oba Oyelude called on all Nigerians to intensify prayers for peace to return fully to the country and appealed to the Federal and State Governments to keep the various promises they made to the protesting youths while the crises lasted.
He further praised the patriotism of the Nigerian Army and the military leadership and other security agencies for quickly identifying subversive foreign Elements like Amnesty international and thwarting their mischief.

CACOVID yet to flag-off its Palliatives in Osun - Relief C'ttee Secretary 

The Osun Food and Relief Committee on CIVID-19 has siad that the Coalition Against Covid-19 (CACOVID) has not flagged off the distribution of palliatives in the State. 

The Committee disclosed this in a statement signed by the Secretary of the Committee, Alhaji Bayo Jimoh, and made available to newsmen on Wednesday in Osogbo, the State capital.

The statement reads in part: "I wish to place on record that CACOVID has yet to do any flag-off in Osun. CACOVID sent a programme of events to us in August in preparation for the flag off but it was later called off. 

"The last letter we wrote to them on behalf of the State was dated September 28, reminding them that the State had yet to receive the rice component of the donated items and that they should give the Committee further directives on the available ones since some of the items were perishable.

"We are sure that when they elect to clear the air on the status of their palliatives in the States, we shall be vindicated.They should come out with a list of the States where flag off had been done".

The Secretary also clarified that the State does not have any Federal Government's palliatives in any of its wear houses as they have all been distributed.

"For the umpteenth time,  I wish to reiterate that no Federal Government palliatives were delayed and none was kept in Ede Warehouse. The consignments we got from the FG have since been distributed.

"Only CACOVID palliatives were housed in Ede Warehouse and we were asked to wait for the flag-off, hence, our inability to distribute before they were looted", Jimoh said.