SUNDAY 19 MARCH, 2017 – UWI TODAY
5
OnThursday, January 12, 2017,
the Constitutional Affairs
and Parliamentary Studies Unit (CAPSU) held the first of its
CAPSU Conversations series on the topic “The American
Electoral System and the Election of Donald Trump as the
45th President of the United States”.
The session examined the actual process itself from the
Election Day, which is fixed for the first Tuesday following
the first Monday in November in a leap year; through the
sitting of the Electoral College on the first Monday after
the second Wednesday in December; to the counting of
the Electoral College ballots by a joint session of Congress
under the chairmanship of the Vice President in order to
certify the final result on January 6.
The Electoral College allocations for each state are based
on the size of their House of Representatives delegation plus
two additional votes for each state to correspond to the fact
that each state has two senators regardless of size. Since
1961, Washington, DC, the federal capital, has been added
to the membership of the Electoral College with the smallest
number of votes that can be allocated, namely three.
POLITICS
*Maine allocates its four Electoral College votes on the basis of two votes for whichever
candidate wins the popular vote in the state and one vote for each of its two House
of Representatives districts. Trump won Congressional District 2 and Clinton won
Congressional District 1 as well as the popular vote statewide for a 3-1 split.
The Election of
DONALD
TRUMP
A look at the
numbers behind
the US President’s
victory
B Y D R . H A M I D G H A N Y
Dr. Ghany is Senior Lecturer in Political Science and Coordinator of the Constitutional Affairs and Parliamentary Studies Unit in the Faculty of Social Sciences.
Results in 13 Swing States
Clinton Trump Others
Arizona (11)
1,161,167 1,252,401 159,597
Colorado (9)
1,338,870 1,202,484 238,866
Florida (29)
4,504,975 4,617,886 297,178
Iowa (6)
653,669
800,983 111,379
Maine*(3-1)
357,735
335,593 54,599
Michigan (16)
2,268,839 2,279,543 250,902
Minnesota (10)
1,367,716 1,322,951 254,146
Nevada (6)
539,260
512,058 74,067
New Hampshire (4)
348,526
345,790 49,842
North Carolina (15)
2,189,316 2,362,631 189,617
Ohio (18)
2,394,164 2,841,005 261,318
Pennsylvania (20)
2,926,441 2,970,733 218,228
Wisconsin (10)
1,382,536 1,405,284 188,330
ILLUSTRATION:
RYAN JAMES
There are 435 House of Representatives districts and
100 senators, which gives an allocation of 535 votes and
when added to the three votes forWashington, DC the total
Electoral College allocation is 538. It takes 270 votes in order
to become the President.
The popular vote was won by the Democratic Party
nominee Hillary Clinton with 65,844,610 votes (48.2%)
over the Republican Party nominee Donald Trump with
62,979,636 votes (46.1%), while the Electoral College
allocation was won by Trump (306) over Clinton (232). The
other candidates combined earned 7,804,213 votes (5.7%)
and no Electoral College votes.
The key to Trump’s victory was his win in the so-called
“Rust Belt” of Wisconsin (10 Electoral College votes),
Michigan (16 Electoral College votes), Ohio (18 Electoral
College votes) and Pennsylvania (20 Electoral College votes).
Trump’s ability to win those 64 Electoral College votes made
all the difference together with victories in some so-called
“swing states”.
The session also noted the fact that there were
deviations in the final Electoral College vote as some electors
did not vote for the candidates to whom they were pledged
when the Electoral College met on December 19. Trump
emerged with 304 (down from 306) and Clinton emerged
with 227 (down from 232).
These votes were confirmed on January 6 in the joint
session of Congress and Donald Trump was sworn into
office on January 20 as the 45th President of the United
States.
