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Quillan · 11-07-08, 05:46 PM

I had that question answered by a political science professor way back when: it allows the least populated states to have some say in the process. In the US, we have 100 senators (two for each state, so if Puerto Rico ever asks and is granted statehood it'll be 102) and 435 Representatives. The Reps are divided by the population ratios of the states. Each state has Electors equal to the total numbers of Senators and Representatives it has. The least a state can have is thus 3 electoral votes. If it was a strictly popular vote, a candidate who won the super-populated northeast and west coasts wouldn't even need to campaign in the midwest.

11-07-08, 05:46 PM	#36
Quillan Samurai Navy Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 579 Downloads: 2 Uploads: 0	I had that question answered by a political science professor way back when: it allows the least populated states to have some say in the process. In the US, we have 100 senators (two for each state, so if Puerto Rico ever asks and is granted statehood it'll be 102) and 435 Representatives. The Reps are divided by the population ratios of the states. Each state has Electors equal to the total numbers of Senators and Representatives it has. The least a state can have is thus 3 electoral votes. If it was a strictly popular vote, a candidate who won the super-populated northeast and west coasts wouldn't even need to campaign in the midwest. __________________ We, the unwilling, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much, for so long, with so little, that we are now qualified to do anything with nothing.