Two Counties Gave HRC her ENTIRE PV Plurality

[Goldwater]

I have to wonder what reactions some people here would have if Trump won the popular vote and lost the EV.

[Antonio the Sixth]

I have to wonder what reactions some people here would have if Trump won the popular vote and lost the EV.

Well, it would have made up for 2000.

[DrScholl]

Had Trump won the popular vote, yet lost the electoral college, Republicans would have not have been okay with that scenario and probably would have found a way to give Trump the presidency anyway.

But if we are going to talk about counties, you have to acknowledge that only four counties gave Trump his electoral college win. If you eliminate Livingston County in Michigan, Waukesha County in Wisconsin, Washington County and Westmoreland County in Pennsylvania, then Hillary Clinton won the electoral college.

[Nichlemn]

The idea that the EC serves to "protect" rural areas against big cities doesn't really hold water. It slightly exaggerates the voting power of smaller states, which are usually more rural, but its main effect by far is to massively increase the voting power of people in swing states. Rural Texans or Kansans have much less influence than urban Denverites or Philadelphians.

[Stranger in a strange land]

The idea that the EC serves to "protect" rural areas against big cities doesn't really hold water. It slightly exaggerates the voting power of smaller states, which are usually more rural, but its main effect by far is to massively increase the voting power of people in swing states. Rural Texans or Kansans have much less influence than urban Denverites or Philadelphians.

The argument that it prevents small states from being neglected is pretty bogus also: the candidates spend plenty of time and money campaigning in NH, but almost none in WY, ND, or SD.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

The idea that the EC serves to "protect" rural areas against big cities doesn't really hold water. It slightly exaggerates the voting power of smaller states, which are usually more rural, but its main effect by far is to massively increase the voting power of people in swing states. Rural Texans or Kansans have much less influence than urban Denverites or Philadelphians.

The argument that it prevents small states from being neglected is pretty bogus also: the candidates spend plenty of time and money campaigning in NH, but almost none in WY, ND, or SD.

Not really accurate.  What it does is make states matter in the first place, since we are a collection of 50 distinct states.  If the EC were proportional (without the two EV bonus to every state), Wyoming would have 1/436 (or 0.23%) of the votes.  Instead, it has 3/538 (or 0.56%) of the votes, more than double the power it would otherwise have.  The EC works to protect our federalist system.

[Figueira]

The idea that the EC serves to "protect" rural areas against big cities doesn't really hold water. It slightly exaggerates the voting power of smaller states, which are usually more rural, but its main effect by far is to massively increase the voting power of people in swing states. Rural Texans or Kansans have much less influence than urban Denverites or Philadelphians.

The argument that it prevents small states from being neglected is pretty bogus also: the candidates spend plenty of time and money campaigning in NH, but almost none in WY, ND, or SD.

Not really accurate.  What it does is make states matter in the first place, since we are a collection of 50 distinct states.  If the EC were proportional (without the two EV bonus to every state), Wyoming would have 1/436 (or 0.23%) of the votes.  Instead, it has 3/538 (or 0.56%) of the votes, more than double the power it would otherwise have.  The EC works to protect our federalist system.

But individual people in Wyoming have zero power.

[Adam Griffin]

Zero Counties Gave Trump his ENTIRE PV Plurality, Because He Didn't Win the PV and Is Therefore an Illegitimate President

[Nyvin]

Counties are just subjective boundary lines drawn more than a hundred years ago.    They don't have any real significance in terms of elections other than Republicans doing their regular spewing of "WE WON MORE COUNTIES, WE HAVE THE BIGGER EPEEN!!!"

[Keep cool-idge]

Okay to everyone saying that trump lost popular vote so he should lose and that electoral college doesn't represent the people what I say is yes it does the fact is trump won 30 states plus half of Maine this is why we have the electoral college if we go to a popular vote system then only 10 states will really matter
If the democrats don't like the electoral college how about some of you Californiains move to Pennsylvania Michigan and Wisconsin all it would take is 60,000 more dems in each state to win

[Kyle Rittenhouse is a Political Prisoner]

Okay to everyone saying that trump lost popular vote so he should lose and that electoral college doesn't represent the people what I say is yes it does the fact is trump won 30 states plus half of Maine this is why we have the electoral college if we go to a popular vote system then only 10 states will really matter
If the democrats don't like the electoral college how about some of you Californiains move to Pennsylvania Michigan and Wisconsin all it would take is 60,000 more dems in each state to win

Only ten (swing) states matter now.

[Keep cool-idge]

Okay to everyone saying that trump lost popular vote so he should lose and that electoral college doesn't represent the people what I say is yes it does the fact is trump won 30 states plus half of Maine this is why we have the electoral college if we go to a popular vote system then only 10 states will really matter
If the democrats don't like the electoral college how about some of you Californiains move to Pennsylvania Michigan and Wisconsin all it would take is 60,000 more dems in each state to win

Only ten (swing) states matter now.

Well tell how many this is
Florida,Virginia,Pennsylvania,Michigan,North Carolina,New Hampshire,Maine,Wisconsin,Colorado,Nevada,Minnesota,Arizona,Georgia,Ohio,Iowa and New Mexico

Now you can make an agreement that Georgia and new Mexico aren't swing states but there still the general leaning red blue states that can go blue or red

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

This is a weak argument. The reason for the electoral college, like so many things laid out in the constitution, is to provide checks and balances, int his case on the larger states. It's not about counties. It's about holding back "the violence of factions" frequently mentioned in the federalist papers.

That said, the electoral college does need reform. I would prefer that the winner of each state get two electors and then have the rest be proportionally distributed. That would provide greater incentives to vote in safely red and blue states. Perhaps the Cruz supporters down in Texas who didn't show up to vote for Trump would have done so reluctantly if they thought their votes actually mattered in stopping Clinton and the same goes for all those anti-Trump protesters in Portland and elsewhere who didn't even vote.