Wednesday, November 16, 2016

We pretend to vote, they pretend to be 'elected.'



Almost a week has passed since the presidential election and still all the votes have not officially been counted. The Associated Press has not yet called the last states standing, Michigan and New Hampshire, because recounts in both are still possible. Michigan and New Hampshire’s unofficial vote tallies, however, are in, and the margins are slim.



President-elect Donald Trump is currently winning Michigan by 13,107 votes and at 47.6 percent, compared to Hillary Clinton at 47.3 percent. Clinton leads New Hampshire by 2,701 votes at 47.6 percent, compared to Trump at 47.2 percent.



If these margins hold, Trump will officially take 306 Electoral College votes from 30 states and Clinton will take 232 Electoral College votes from 20 states plus Washington, D.C. Though Trump has well surpassed the 270 electoral votes need to win the election, Clinton has undoubtedly won the popular vote. Clinton currently leads the popular vote with 61,039,676 votes to Trump’s 60,371,193, according to the Associated Press’ latest numbers.



There have been four other elections, most recently during President George W. Bush's election in 2000, when a president has been elected without the support of the popular vote. Trump took issue with the Electoral College during his campaign, calling the system “disastrous” and repeatedly suggesting a rigged election. Despite his win, he said he stands by his opinion of the Electoral College.