To not understand US politics?

[gchali]

I've just read that Trump could receive less votes from the public but could still win the election? I'm really confused and can't understand this.

Sorry if I am being stupid but can somebody please explain?

Part of the confusion is the sometimes colloquial usage of being a ‘registered’ democrat or republican.

Some states force voters to register as a party member to vote in that state’s primary election. In that case people do actually register and are only allowed to vote for one party. Other states don’t make voters declare, but will only allow a voter to cast votes in one primary or the other.

A lot of people will refer to themselves as a registered whatever, but they just mean that they are loyal to one party over the other. But it doesn’t limit their choice in voting. And even a true registered voter can vote for any party’s candidate outside of the primary.

I think I read that electoral college members have some discretion not to vote in accordance with the popular vote in their state? And there were some cases of “faithless electors” at the last election? Could someone explain how that works?

@Gremlinsateit

I think I read that electoral college members have some discretion not to vote in accordance with the popular vote in their state? And there were some cases of “faithless electors” at the last election? Could someone explain how that works?

Faithless electoral voters get fined and replaced immediately decided by the US Supreme Court. Do not forget 2 states split their electoral votes. Maine and Nebraska

Thanks, do the votes of the faithless electors count or are they void?

Each State has 2 Senators. One Republican and one Democrat

Excuse my total ignorance on this but does that mean that they are they appointed by the party rather than voted for? Or does it mean that eg all the party members in a particular state vote for their choice of Senator? Or do the public vote for them?

@Gremlinsateit

Thanks, do the votes of the faithless electors count or are they void?

Most States have passed legislation requiring Electors to vote the way of their State. If they still refuse to vote in favor of the State's decision or even abstain from voting they are fined and immediately replaced. The vote carries on

@wellthatsunusual

Each State has 2 Senators. One Republican and one Democrat

Excuse my total ignorance on this but does that mean that they are they appointed by the party rather than voted for? Or does it mean that eg all the party members in a particular state vote for their choice of Senator? Or do the public vote for them?

No. They are elected every 2 years by the people. 2 Republicans will run against each other and two Democrats will run against each other

Thank you

@Leaannb
Each State has 2 Senators. One Republican and one Democrat

Not the case. Yes each State has two senators, but they are elected and so only rarely would a State have one republican senator and one democratic senator. There are also other parties in the US - Independents, Libertarian, Green, etc. And they occasionally win senate seats.

No. They are elected every 2 years by the people. 2 Republicans will run against each other and two Democrats will run against each other

Not true. The the term of office for a senator is 6 years. Every two years some seats are up for re-election, instead of all 100. For example, this year 35 seats are up for re-election. And no, republicans and democrats run against each other for the same seats after they’ve been confirmed as a candidate for their party.

Most States have passed legislation requiring Electors to vote the way of their State. If they still refuse to vote in favor of the State's decision or even abstain from voting they are fined and immediately replaced. The vote carries on

26 out of 50 states have this “winner-take-all” system, which dictates that all electoral votes be awarded to the candidate who won the popular vote within the state.

Maine and Nebraska are the only two states that follow the congressional district method: They award two electoral votes to the candidate who wins the popular vote and then candidates receive another vote for each congressional district they win. We’ve see that already with Biden getting a vote from Nebraska from the Omaha district despite losing to Trump for the state.

The remaining 22 states do not require electors to vote for whoever won the State. There is also no federal law or constitutional clause requiring that they do.

@PlanDeRaccordement

No. They are elected every 2 years by the people. 2 Republicans will run against each other and two Democrats will run against each other

Not true. The the term of office for a senator is 6 years. Every two years some seats are up for re-election, instead of all 100. For example, this year 35 seats are up for re-election. And no, republicans and democrats run against each other for the same seats after they’ve been confirmed as a candidate for their party.

Very true. Senators have to go through a primary process also. The only time they don't is if nobody was running against them. At any time a member of any political party can challenge the incumbent They then have a primary just l I me with the President.

I've learnt more on reading this thread than any other news outlet. Really helpful, thanks all.

When I first started reading up on it, I thought it was stupid. Then, I thought about how we vote in the UK. Our system also makes no sense, so people in glass houses and all that...

Does any civilised country have a voting system that does sound reasonable, I wonder? (Genuine question: I don't know enough about international politics to answer.)

@sally067

It's not really much different here - 57% of people that voted last year here did not vote for the Tories/Boris. He won a 80 seat majority with 43% of the vote.

That's a different issue though, and caused by our First past the post system.

It is more like what happened in the UK in Feb 1974. The Tories won a bigger share of the popular vote than Labour (37.9% of the popular vote compared with 37.2%). But Labour won the election because it had the most MPs (301, compared with 297 for the Tories).

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to explain things on this thread. It is really interesting and really helpful.