Photo by Element5 Digital / Unsplash
By Charlie Colasurdo ’23
Student ambassador
From an American perspective, it’s easy to forget how complex the United States electoral system is, especially in regard to the presidency. As monolithic as the American president is, the way he or she is put into power is not as easy as pundits in the media make it out to be. In short, there’s more to presidential elections than first seems.
In an online event at Duke Kunshan themed ‘China Factor in the U.S. Election,’ speaker Kelvin Ma, managing partner of PKF Demei Law Firm and PKF Asia-Pacific, introduced the Electoral College, a group of 538 delegates apportioned between U.S. states and the District of Columbia.
These delegates are the true electors of the president. Following the November ‘election’ of the president by U.S. citizens, these electors cast their votes on behalf of their states. Whichever candidate receives 270 Electoral College votes will be inaugurated as the next U.S. president on Jan. 20.
Ma’s discussion of the Electoral College highlighted a critical and oftentimes confusing component of our presidential elections, especially in light of what happened in 2016. On Election Day, Donald Trump received millions fewer votes than his opponent Hillary Clinton did, but he still went on to win the presidency. How could that be?
Enter the Electoral College. Trump had won the majority vote in a number of strategic states, which would go on to give him the 270 Electoral College votes needed to become president. This was one of a handful of cases in American history where a presidential candidate has lost the popular vote on Election Day but still gone on to be inaugurated.
For those outside of the U.S., this process can seem confusing. It stems from an enlightened early American ideal to balance the need for democratic governance with the desire to prevent mob rule, known as the ‘tyranny of the majority.’
Today, the Electoral College is criticized for giving too much power to low-population states, while proponents believe that it forces presidential candidates to attempt to win votes in all states rather than a handful of population centers.
I would advise my friends in China and beyond to pay close attention to this presidential election. This will be a fantastic opportunity to see the Electoral College in action. You’ll see firsthand how the winner-takes-all system can give candidates a crucial advantage in swing states, including Duke University’s home state, North Carolina.
Charlie Colasurdo is an undergraduate student ambassador from Connecticut, U.S. ‘China Factor in the U.S. Election’ was hosted by the Center for the Study of Contemporary China on Oct. 15.
