Only a few times in American history has a candidate lost the popular vote, yet won the presidency by a majority of electoral votes. The most recent example was the 2000 election, in which George W. Bush captured Florida's 25 electoral votes due to his narrow winning margin of 537 popular votes in that state.

Although it’s a hotly debated institution, the Electoral College has served as America’s deliberative assembly for choosing the country’s Vice President and President since it was first written into Federal law in 1845.

While proposals to abolish it are continually put forward, the institution endures due to its uncanny ability to solve an entirely different set of problems than it was originally established to address.

See also

• A Fledgling Nation
• Emulating Rome
• Representation & Distribution
• How It Works