If I was American I’d rather “waste” my vote on Jill Stein than choose 1 out of 2 genocide lovers: AIPAC (and J Street)-bribed Kamala Harris vs. Miriam Adelson-funded Donald Trump. Your big candidates are compromised by a foreign entity, and no it’s not Russia, Iran, or China.
But it doesn’t matter, does it? The US is not a democracy anyway, because the direct “popular votes” don’t really matter. In fact, as many as 5 presidents in US history have won the presidency without winning the popular vote:
- In 1824 John Quincy Adams won the election despite Andrew Jackson had more popular votes.
- In 1876 Rutherford B. Hayes won the presidency while losing the popular vote to Samuel J. Tilden.
- In 1888 Benjamin Harrison won the election despite losing the popular vote to Grover Cleveland.
- in 2000 George W. Bush won the presidential election despite losing the popular vote to Al Gore.
- In 2016 Donald Trump lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton but he became the president.
What gives? Enter the “Electoral College.” It is a voting mechanism in which Americans indirectly elect their president and vice president through their state’s electors. A majority of 538 electoral votes are at stake, with the candidates must secure 270 votes in order to win. Who are these 538 electors? Before the general election, states select candidate electors from both parties, which comprised of unnamed local elected officials, party leaders, community activist, etc; individuals who are chosen in honor of their service and dedication to their respective parties (yup, a big loophole here).
And after the November general election, the presidential candidate who wins the popular vote in a state will have the privilege to choose which slate of electors – Republican, Democrat, or a third party – that will cast the electoral votes in that state. The official electoral college election will then be held in their respective states in the first Tuesday after the second Wednesday in December (which will be on 17 December this year).
But here’s the catch, the electoral voters are not obligated to vote in line with the popular vote result in their state, and thus they are technically free to vote for anyone they wanted (although they usually comply with their party’s decision). And here’s where it gets complicated: There are 538 electoral college votes but only 50 states + Puerto Rico, and the distribution of electoral college votes are not equal for every state (and the reason behind it has a racist past, involving “slave states”).
That’s why Harris and Trump only focus their campaign on 7 “swing states” with the most electoral college votes (most notably Pennsylvania that have 19 votes, which is predicted to be the tipping point of this election) outside the likes of California with 54 votes who tend to be Democrat-base, or Texas Republican base with 40 votes.
It’s all fun and game, until you realise that this complicated voting system is designed to prevent a popular candidate to win, which in 5 cases were not the same persons as the electoral college winners. Or more specifically, it was historically created to prevent the peasants to outvote the constitution framers (the status quo).
So, if you ever wondered why the only choice that America has – to quote South Park – is only between “A giant Douche vs. A Turd Sandwich”, well it is by design. A “third party candidate” like Jill Stein won’t stand a chance. But to me, if I was American, voting for her would be better for my conscience than voting for the genocidal plutocracy that doesn’t really serve the interest of the American people anymore.
THE CHAOS THEORY 