EP109 The Electoral College with Ron Bryant

After the election of Donald Trump as president, despite losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by more than 3 million votes, there was a lot of talk about getting rid of the Electoral College or changing the way the Electoral College works in the states. That inspired author, historian and gazette contributor Ron Bryant to write an article on the Electoral College and this week Leo Haggerty to sits down with Ron and discuss the Electoral College in more detail. Some of the Topics they cover: What is the Electoral College? Why the Electoral College? Why not direct election of our national leaders? What other options for selecting a president were considered? How close did we come to having a monarchy? How were electors chosen in Kentucky? How are electors chosen in other states? How is the number of electors each state gets determined? How many times has the winner of the popular vote been different than the winner in the Electoral College? What happens if there is a tie in the Electoral College? The 12th amendment altered the Electoral College what happened there? Have there been any other attempts to change to get rid of the Electoral College? What are “unfaithful or faithless electors?” After last year's presidential election saw the defeat of Hillary Clinton, despite winning the popular vote, at least three states – Connecticut, Virginia, and Minnesota – have considered changing their state constitutions to divvy up electors by congressional district. Maine already does that.