5 ms·

Romney lost 51-47 in the popular vote.

• twblalock 10y ago
  That's not a useful fact, because both candidates would have campaigned differently if the president was chosen by popular vote rather than the electoral college. It's very unlikely that the popular vote would have been the same.
• hdctambien 10y ago
  Of those that voted. I think fixxer is saying that there are alot of people that don't vote (about half of the voting population) because they are an X in a Y state so they don't think their vote will change that. But if the electoral college went poof, a lot more of the missing 50% would vote and that could change the expected value of a popular vote.
  • dllthomas 10y ago
    This isn't so much directed at you, but this seems a great place to note that there are races on the ballot other than president, usually your local elections will have a bigger impact on your day-to-day life than the national ones, and your vote carries orders of magnitude more weight. Pay attention down-ballot!
    • jsight 10y ago
      In my district, the margins on those were even larger than the presidential margins. I still voted, but the outcomes were all very predictable here.
      • dllthomas 10y ago
        Are you actually saying the difference - in number of votes - for President for your state was smaller than the difference - in number of votes - for every local judge, school board member, etc? I mean, not impossible, but surprising. Where are you located?
        • jsight 10y ago
          The number of votes was only wider in one or two of them (statewide races). The local races were mostly uncontested (or lightly contested).
          • dllthomas 10y ago
            Gotcha.
  • matwood 10y ago
    Exactly. As long as we are in an electoral system, discussing the popular vote as anything more than a novelty is a waste of time.