4 • | WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2020 | ELECTION 2020
THE STANDARD
THE-STANDARD.ORG
Greene County central polling places Diana Dudenhoeffer | Digital Editor |
@kisstein | Photo by Leah Stiefermann/THE STANDARD
The polling place closest to most Bears is JQH Arena,
Hospital at 1235 E. Cherokee St. All polling places are open
located at 685 S. John Q. Hammons Parkway. Other polling
6 a.m. to 7 p.m., according to the Missouri Secretary of State
places include CU Transit Center at 211 N. Main Ave., Cox
website. For a full list of polling places, visit the Greene
South Hospital at 3801 S. National Ave. and Mercy
County Clerk Office’s website.
What is the Electoral College and how does it impact elections? Desiree Nixon | News Editor |
@DesireeNixon17 | Illustration by Jadie Arnett/THE STANDARD
In the United States, the founders ity Missouri has the set up an election process in Article same number of electors as it does memTwo of the Constitution. This set up the Electoral College, the United bers in Congress: eight States’ way of electing the president. electors for the eight The general election happens every members in the House of Representatives, four years, when citizens go to cast plus two Senators. their vote; however, their vote is not The U.S. has what what determines who wins. Instead, is called a ‘first-pastthe Electoral College determines the the-post’ democracy, outcome of the general election. According to the National Arwhich means whoever gets the most votes chives, the Electoral College is a process, not a group. This is a process even if that total is less that involves a group of people from than 50% of all votes each state called electors casting a cast- wins the elecvote for who they think deserves to tion,” Beatty said. “It be president. is not a direct democ“It is not a direct democracy beracy.” cause that’s not the way the founding Although the Unitfathers set up our electoral system,” ed States election sysNick Beatty, political science profestem is not a direct desor at Missouri State University, said. mocracy, typically the “They were concerned ignorant votThere are a certain number of electors in popular vote and electoral votes have the same outcome. ers would select bad candidates for president, each state. Missouri has ten electoral votes. “There have been instances when the person The Electoral College has 538 electors, acso they created the Electoral College for presidential races, which was supposed to protect cording to the National Archives. To elect the who won the popular vote did not win the elecpresident, the college needs a 270-vote major- toral vote – 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000 and of us from our ignorant selves.”
course, 2016,” Beatty said. In 2016, Donald Trump won 304 electoral votes compared to Hillary Clinton’s 227. However, Trump only received 46.1% of the popular vote while Clinton received 48.2%, according to the Federal Election Commission. Although there have been more recent examples of conflicts between the Electoral College versus the popular vote, there are many people who support it. “Proponents of the Electoral College claim it preserves some degree of representation – a voice – for the less populous states in the country,” Beatty said. “Otherwise, the states with high-population cities would control the outcome of elections.” Through our election process, there are two main parties that dictate the majority of election outcomes. “We have a two-party system that reduces the viable options available for voters, so anyone on the right of the political spectrum feels compelled to vote Republican and those on the left feel compelled to vote for Democrats,” Beatty said. For more information on the Electoral College, visit the National Archives website.
