atives each state has. This number plus two, representing the two senators, equals how many electors each state has. Also DC has 3 electors. Then each state has the right to decide how to select these electors. Forty-eight states use the general ticket system, two, Maine and Nebraska, use the district system. The general ticket system is supposed to operate as follows. There is a direct vote election held in each state and the winner of the vote is suppose to get all of that states electoral votes. In 24 states the electors are required to vote as pledged. In Maine and Nebraska there is an election held in each congressional district. The winner of every district gets one electoral vote, and the candidate with the most electoral votes gets the remaining two electoral votes. Then all of the votes are counted, and if a candidate gets more than half the votes, he/she becomes the new president. If there is no majority then the election gets thrown into the House of Representatives. There each state is given one vote and they vote on the top three candidates. If a candidate gets a majority vote, then he/she becomes president. If not they continue voting until a majority is reached and the speaker of the house become a temporary president until a majority is reached (Glennon 45). As I see it there are three problems to the current electoral college system. First a president can be elected to office even if it is not what the people want. Another problem is that electors are not punished for being unfaithful to what they have pledged. And finally the system for electing a president if no electoral majority is reached. Under the assumption that all states used the general ticket system, all electors were faithful, there are only two candidates, and if a candidate lost a state the candidate received no votes, then a president could be elected with only 22% of the national popular vote. If there were three candidates, it would require only a 15% ...
