Re: Results of Poll by Email No. 18

Quoting Andrew Chaney <adchaney@...>:

> on 14/7/02 15:42, Thomas R. Wier (trwier@UCHICAGO.EDU) wrote:
>
> >> Generally speaking, it's my understanding that the word majority
> >> refers by default to an absolute majority only, so if the NAmericans
> >> have only a relative majority, they don't have a majority at all, [snip]
> >
> > Correct. In American political usage at least, Presidents must win
> > a majority of the Electoral College, but they need only win a plurality
> > of the popular vote.  This political usage usually carries over into
> > other usages as well.
>
> They don't have to win anything in the popular vote. The president is
> elected by the electors, not the populace.
I realized that I was being unclear as soon I received my own post. I
meant something along the lines of "for practical purposes".  As the last
election showed, you don't have to win a plurality of the popular
vote across the country, but you do have to win a plurality in enough
key states to win in the Electoral College. The fact is, for practical
purposes, except in *very* close races (like those 1800, 1824, 1876,
and 2000), you *do* have to have a plurality of the popular vote.

=====================================================================
Thomas Wier          "...koruphàs hetéras hetére:isi prosápto:n /
Dept. of Linguistics  mú:tho:n mè: teléein atrapòn mían..."
University of Chicago "To join together diverse peaks of thought /
1010 E. 59th Street   and not complete one road that has no turn"
Chicago, IL 60637     Empedocles, _On Nature_, on speculative thinkers