Efforts to retool U.S. electoral college gain traction

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Daylong lineups, pernicious warnings of voter fraud, civil unrest, intimidation and catching a deadly virus: casting a ballot in the United States this year is a stressful and risky endeavour.

For most voters, then, the electoral college is likely not top of mind at the moment.

Barry Fadem is not most voters. “We’re electing the president of the battleground states,” said Fadem, a California lawyer and longtime champion of revamping the way the U.S. chooses its presidents.

“These are the states both parties go after, because it’s close enough that they think they can win it. But, you know, do the math — 42 states are left out of the presidential election.”

Fadem is president of National Popular Vote, a non-profit association that’s on a mission to make the results of American presidential elections more reflective of the will of the people.

Out of the past 45 contests, five have produced commanders-in-chief who did not win the majority of the popular vote, including George W. Bush in 2000 and Donald J. Trump in 2016. “No offence (to Canada), but we consider (the U.S. election) the most important election in the world,” Fadem said.

“Yet, the rule that we are known for around the world — whoever gets the most votes at the end of the night is the winner — doesn’t apply to the most important election the world, and no justification can be made for it today.”

Technically, Americans don’t elect their presidents. It’s the electoral college, 538 electors chosen by state legislatures to reflect the results in their states. Winning 270 or more means a trip to the White House.

In most cases, all of a state’s electors go to the candidate who gets the most votes in the state; Maine and Nebraska also use the results at the district level to allocate a share of their votes.

That state-by-state process is why it’s possible to become president without winning the national popular vote. Hillary Clinton got 2.87 million more votes, but lost to Trump in the Electoral College, 306 to 232.