One vote, one voice

Does your vote really matter?

337,636. That is the number of votes separating the two major party presidential candidates. It’s not surprising that about a third of a million votes separate the winner and the loser. What might be surprising, though, is that it is the candidate who lost got 337,636 votes more than the candidate who won.

The fact that someone can win the popular vote and lose the election is confusing to a lot of people and has many questioning if casting a vote even matters.

The answer is the electoral college.

The electoral college is comprised of electors to match the number of members in the House of Representatives plus two Senators. For example, Illinois has 18 representative. If you add two Senators to the 18 representatives, Illinois receives 20 electors.

“Electors are pledged party members. In determining electors,” social studies teacher Julie Donner said. “Each state has it’s own process. The democrats will select their slate of electors and the Republicans will select theirs.”

It is a winner-takes-all system, though.

There are 538 electoral votes at stake and a candidate needs a majority vote of 270 to win the election.

Trump won 279 votes. Clinton, 228.

Voting is an important right. It’s our responsibility to exercise it, and to keep people in office to reflect what the people need.

— Social studies teacher Julie Donner

Breaking it down

Whichever candidate wins the popular vote in the state receives all of that state’s electoral votes even if they do not win the popular vote by a majority. They just have to have the more votes than any other candidate.

“it is not necessary to win a majority of the popular vote in the state to get all of the electoral votes. The candidate only needs to win a plurality, which means at least one more vote than any other candidate,” government teacher Sharon Smogor said.

When all of the electoral votes are tallied on Election Day, we should know how many popular votes each state has earned

The electors do not necessarily have to vote for the candidate with the most votes from their state, but almost always they do. Illinois, like 48 other states, has the winner take all system

That’s where one vote counts. It is part of the decision of whether your state votes for the  Democrat or for the Republican or, in extremely rare cases, a candidate from a third party.

“Your vote determines how you and your state will be represented,” Donner said. “You’re choosing these people to make decisions for you.”

After Tuesday’s vote, the electoral map of Illinois shows that the state is primarily red, which reflects a majority of votes for Trump in many Illinois counties. The exception is the Chicagoland area, which is blue, and reflects a majority of votes for Clinton.

While it appears that the majority of the state voted Republican, the population is so much greater in Chicagoland than the rest of Illinois that the popular vote was actually Democratic.

All 20 of Illinois electors will vote for Clinton so the Democratic slate of electors will meet and vote in their state capital in December.

Looking down the ticket

Often local races have an impact on a person’s day-to-day life just as big as the federal race because state representatives and senators, governors, mayors, and councilmen are making decisions about state laws and taxes.

“Local races sometimes don’t get as much press as the presidential, but they still make an impact on day to day lives,” Donner said.

Donner said that it’s important to remember, though, that the presidential race is not the only race that is on the ballot and that the statewide races are just as important.

“A lot of people don’t understand that Congress is equal to the President in power,” Donner said.