Between battleground states, the electoral college and unfavorable outcomes, a resounding question each election is— does my vote even count?

Let’s do some housekeeping…

Battleground states, or swing states, are states that alternate between blue and red each election. We aren’t able to rely on them to vote either Democrat or Republic, and the winner usually claims their victory by very narrow margins (the numbers are generally nothing to brag about). This year the presidential candidates are focusing their campaign efforts on Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. These swing states will ultimately determine the winner of the 2020 general election.

A common misconception regarding the election in November is that “the people” directly cast votes for the presidential candidate. We do not! We are voting for our state’s electors to cast their ballots for candidate that received the most votes. There are just as many electors for each state as there are members of Congress, and this number is based on the state’s population. For example, Arizona has 11 electoral votes. If Joe Biden were to receive a majority of the votes in Arizona, then he would receive all 11 electoral votes.

In order to win the election, the presidential candidate would have to receive 270 electoral votes. Make sense?

In short, a few thousand votes can determine whether or not the state’s electoral votes will be awarded either one of the candidates.

The issue that people are having with the institution of the electoral college is that it is possible for a candidate to win the election without securing the popular vote. This is what happened in 2016. People are left to question the legitimacy of the America’s democracy. How do you feel about it?