More than half a million Kansans voted for Joe Biden for president.
In the end, not one counted.
That’s because Kansas uses the winner-take-all formula to decide how to cast its electoral college votes that ultimately decide the presidency.
Because Kansas is so predominantly Republican, a different method of aggregation would likely make little difference.
Even so, the Electoral College is a lousy way of reflecting Americans’ preferences. Five times in our history — and perhaps a sixth — the candidate with the most votes has lost the election.
Many say it’s unfair. Case in point: Five times in our history — and perhaps a sixth — the candidate with the most votes has lost the election.
That’s because the Electoral College (EC) system does not count votes equally.
A state’s EC votes are determined by the number of its representatives serving in Congress plus its two senators. In Kansas, that makes six for a population of 2.7 million.
California, meanwhile, is bumping 40 million — 13 times our size — with 55 EC votes.
Extrapolating this across the country, one sees Midwestern states carry far more weight in terms of Electoral College votes than the heavily populated states on our coasts and in Texas.
ANOTHER failure of the Electoral College is its winner-takes-all formula.
In states where the political parties are closely matched, the losers lose disproportionately.
In Michigan, 16 EC votes, unofficial results for 2020 tallied almost 2.79 million votes for Biden; 2.64 million for Donald Trump. In Wisconsin, 10 EC votes, 3.375 million votes for Biden; 3.327 million for Trump. In Florida, 29 EC votes, 5.658 million for Trump; 5.284 million for Biden. And in Texas, 38 EC votes, 5.86 million for Trump; 5.218 for Biden.
These four states had extremely close races, but with a winner-take-all system, the results are not reflected proportionately.
Two states base their EC votes on their congressional districts. Nebraska and Maine dictate that the popular vote winner receives two EC votes plus the pluralities in any district. This year, of Nebraska’s five possible votes, four went to Trump and one to Biden.
In Maine, three of its votes went to Biden, with its more conservative northern district going for Trump.
