Current Events > General Election: How does a candidate win a state?

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Is it purely popular vote? So if in a swing state, like in Pennsylvania, if John Doe gets the most popular vote, John Doe wins all of PA's electoral counts?

Or is it based on the districts? So if John Doe wins the most number of districts (or each district has a set points and that happens to be the most, like an electoral college but for state level), John Doe wins all of PA's electoral counts?

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Neither. The electorate college decides who gets the states electorates. They almost always go with the popular vote, but theyre not required to.

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Bananana posted...

Neither. The electorate college decides who gets the states electorates. They almost always go with the popular vote, but theyre not required to.

So for all intents and purposes, it's a popular vote. So why is the district mapping so contested?

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IdiotMachine posted...

So for all intents and purposes, it's a popular vote. So why is the district mapping so contested?

Whichever party's in charge and given the task of redistricting can engage in gerrymandering which would effectively lock in a district to a particular party even if done naturally would belong to the other party (as a percentage of popular vote, a state should have 5 Democrats and 5 Republicans, but gerrymandering changed that to be 4 Democrats and 6 Republicans or vice versa).

Funnily enough, there is no constitutional requirement that congressional districts even need to exist. Our voting technology has developed enough that all states could go back to the "general ticket" method of deciding who is going to represent the state where the whole state votes for a party, and the parties that won 1 or more Representative seats choose who represents the state. We just need Congress to repeal the applicable Apportionment Acts which mandated that nearly every state use districts to decide on who gets to decide which seat.

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Paragon21XX posted...

Whichever party's in charge and given the task of redistricting can engage in gerrymandering which would effectively lock in a district to a particular party even if done naturally would belong to the other party (as a percentage of popular vote, a state should have 5 Democrats and 5 Republicans, but gerrymandering changed that to be 4 Democrats and 6 Republicans or vice versa).

Funnily enough, there is no constitutional requirement that congressional districts even need to exist. Our voting technology has developed enough that all states could go back to the "general ticket" method of deciding who is going to represent the state where the whole state votes for a party, and the parties that won 1 or more Representative seats choose who represents the state. We just need Congress to repeal the applicable Apportionment Acts which mandated that nearly every state use districts to decide on who gets to decide which seat.

I guess my question is what's the point of gerrymandering and districts if the electoral is based on popular votes, and the winner takes all electoral counts?

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IdiotMachine posted...

I guess my question is what's the point of gerrymandering and districts if the electoral is based on popular votes, and the winner takes all electoral counts?

It's almost entirely based on the house of representatives at the national level, since they're district based.

It also affects state legislatures. It has nothing at all to do with the presidency.

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Gobstoppers12 posted...

It's almost entirely based on the house of representatives at the national level, since they're district based.

It also affects state legislatures. It has nothing at all to do with the presidency.

Oh. The districts/gerrymandering only matter for house of reps, not for presidency; got it. What about senators?

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IdiotMachine posted...

Oh. The districts/gerrymandering only matter for house of reps, not for presidency; got it. What about senators?

I'm pretty sure that Senators are decided by state-wide popular vote, but don't quote me on that.

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Gobstoppers12 posted...

IdiotMachine posted...

Oh. The districts/gerrymandering only matter for house of reps, not for presidency; got it. What about senators?

I'm pretty sure that Senators are decided by state-wide popular vote, but don't quote me on that.

They are.
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