Who elects the President of the United States?

If you thought it was each and every citizen who votes on the general election day, which occurs on the first Tuesday after November 1st, this is incorrect.

What really happens?

You may have heard of something known as “the electoral college”.  In a nutshell, there are people who get to be an elector when there is to be an election for a person to become President of the United States.  A total of five-hundred and thirty-eight (538) electors exist, with each state having a specific number of electors.  A total of two-hundred and seventy (270) votes from these “electors” is all that is needed to determine the person who will become President of the United States.  Based on the number of electors associated with each of the States, it is possible to have someone become the President without involving the votes from every state, and since these votes are from the electors, it becomes a true fact that our country does not simply count the votes casted by every citizen who votes on the general election day in November in order to have the highest number of votes from the citizens determine the person to become President.  This fact alone explains why you were incorrect if you thought that your vote on the general election day is directly involved in determining who specifically becomes President of the United States.

Every Vote Should Count

Another fact to mention is the fact that different voting machines exist throughout our country.  When it comes to counting the votes that are casted by those who travel to their designated location to vote, it is a harsh reality that no process exists to guarantee an accurate reporting of every vote that happens during this election day.  People who are involved in the process of gathering and reporting on the actual number of votes are aware of the reality that an accurate counting of every vote may or may not happen.  Please remember, the votes casted by citizens across every State aren’t counted and totaled in order for the person receiving the highest number of votes to become the President.

Can We Fix This Situation?

History can teach us all a lesson.

Excerpt from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_taxation_without_representation:
“‘No taxation without representation'” is a slogan originating during the 1700s that summarized a primary grievance of the American colonists in the Thirteen Colonies, which was one of the major causes of the American Revolution. In short, many in those colonies believed that, as they were not directly represented in the distant British Parliament, any laws it passed affecting the colonists (such as the Sugar Act and the Stamp Act) were illegal under the Bill of Rights 1689, and were a denial of their rights as Englishmen.

The Louisiana Purchase and rapid western expansion were crucial developments during the early republic. But attention there can misleadingly suggest that the United States rapidly assumed the shape we know today. Focusing on how the capital city of the federal government changed in the early years of the nation reminds us of the limited nature of the early central government. Like so many other elements of the new nation, even the most basic features of the capital city were unsettled. President Washington first took office in New York City, but, when reelected in 1792, the capital had already moved to Philadelphia where it would remain for a decade.  (source: http://www.ushistory.org/us/20d.asp)

In 1988, I, the creator of this website, recall sitting in a high school classroom.  The subject was U.S. History.  A teacher known by every student as Mr. Fox taught us to speak up for positive change.

Fittingly,  Jefferson was the first president to be inaugurated in the new and lasting capital of Washington, D.C. in March 1801.

The site of the new capital was the product of political compromise.  As part of the struggle over Hamilton’s financial policy, Congress supported the Bank of the United States which would be headquartered in Philadelphia.  In exchange, the special District of Columbia, to be under Congressional control, would be built on the Potomac River.  The compromise represented a symbolic politics of the very highest order.  While Hamilton’s policies encouraged the consolidation of economic power in the hands of bankers, financiers, and merchants who predominated in the urban northeast, the political capital was to be in a more southerly and agricultural region apart from those economic elites.  (source: http://www.ushistory.org/us/20d.asp)

If we the people can move the capital of a nation, why can’t we the people be the ones to choose the person who serves as President of the United States of America?