我们宪法中比较令人困惑的结构之一是选举团制度. 而世界上大多数民主国家的行政长官都是由多数民众投票选出的, 在美国，选举总统的过程相当复杂, 在某些方面也是不民主的. The founding fathers in developing the electoral process were concerned that a popular vote for the president would place too much power in the hands of the common people instead of the elites, 他们觉得可以指望谁来做决定，领导这个国家走向更“负责任”的道路,很可能是自私自利的态度.
为了实现这一目标, the election of the president was organized by popular votes within states with electoral votes allocated by the number of representatives in the House and two senators. 例如, 使用今天的选举团程序, 加州有54张选举人票(52张众议员和2张参议员), 而马萨诸塞州有11张选举人票(9张众议员和2张参议员). 所有50个州加上哥伦比亚特区的选举人票总数为538张, 多数票是270票. 因此, when the election of the president (and the vice-president since they combine as one vote) is conducted, the president who wins individual states by popular vote and the electoral votes that accompany the votes linked to the state adds those votes to their total. 当得票总数达到或超过270票时，总统就被宣布为获胜者.
What this means is that our national presidential election is a state driven process — win the popular vote in as many states as possible that add up to 270 or more and victory is secured. 通过根据州选举人票选举总统, 开国元勋们确信人民不会控制选举结果, 而是各州, 尤其是像弗吉尼亚这样的大州, 麻萨诸塞州, 宾夕法尼亚州和纽约州, 像华盛顿这样有钱有势的精英们在哪里, 杰斐逊和亚当斯来自, 获得了对政府的控制权.
But while choosing a president from an electoral vote total may appear to be a simple calculation of state votes, 这个过程可能会变得复杂. 难道没有候选人能获得270张选举人票吗, the choice of the president and vice president is shifted to the House of Representatives where each state has one vote — California is equal to 麻萨诸塞州. Whichever candidate gains a majority of the state determined votes (51 votes or more) is declared the victor. But the casting of those single votes can be even more complicated as each state has to decide which candidate receives that one vote. Political party and ideological differences within each state can make deciding on the vote difficult if not highly partisan.
The question of why democratic practice in the election of the president and vice-president is complicated and also problematic concerns the power of states with a large number of electoral votes. 赢得像加州这样人口最多的州的普选, 德州, 佛罗里达, 纽约, 伊利诺斯州, 俄亥俄州, 乔治亚州, 密歇根, 新泽西, 北卡罗来纳州和宾夕法尼亚州的关键门槛是270. 理论上，11个州的胜利可以确保总统职位. 当然, 赢得这11个州的普选当然是不确定的, but it does show the impact of how the electoral college is skewed toward what has come to be called “battleground” states that could hold the balance of electoral power. 此外, the total of votes cast for a particular presidential candidate becomes less important than the total of the vote within each state. 例如, 希拉里·克林顿, 2016年的民主党总统候选人获得了65张选票,853,625票对唐纳德·特朗普62票,985,106, 但他获得了306张选举人票，而克林顿获得了232张选举人票，赢得了总统大选. Clinton’s popular vote margin meant little in an electoral college system; what mattered was winning states and gaining their electoral votes.
因为大州对选举人团的影响, candidates for the presidency often will spend considerable time in those 11 states and spend less time and valuable financial resources on the smaller states that contribute only a few electoral votes to the goal of 270 or more. 但是，如果270个席位的竞争势均力敌，两位总统候选人都接近270个席位的总数, 怀俄明等州(3张选举人票), Vermont (three electoral votes) and South Dakota and North Dakota (three electoral votes each) to name a few could become critical. What is even more complicated and undemocratic is that it is possible that a candidate for the presidency could gain a minority of the popular vote but still win if they won a combination of large and small states that added up to the 270 goal or more. 这种情况不仅发生在2016年克林顿和特朗普的选举中，而且发生在1824年, 1876, 1888年和2000年.
因为美国总统选举制度的独特性, 州选举策略变得至关重要. Not only is it important to get out the vote for the candidate to secure a state victory and capture the electoral votes, but in a close election in a state it is vitally important to ensure that the final vote total is accurate and free from any form of tampering, 错误估计或彻头彻尾的欺诈. 在2020年大选中, the Trump presidential campaign was accused of developing a scheme of “fake electors” — party leaders from the Republican party or Trump loyalists not appointed by the state officials who would illegally certify the final total in a state (乔治亚州, 密歇根 and Wisconsin where Biden won was where the fake electors scheme was prominent) and send those fake certifications to Washington to be counted as the correct total so as to assist Donald Trump in winning the electoral votes from those states. 这一阴谋被揭露，并导致对假选民的刑事指控. The fake electors scheme pointed to the challenges that can occur within the electoral college process.
There have been many calls within the American electoral system to remove the Electoral College and replace it with a straight popular vote decision. 这样的行动需要修改宪法, which is not only difficult but would be opposed by smaller states who have the potential to benefit from influencing the final electoral vote tally. This call for removal of the Electoral College was especially prominent after the victory of Donald Trump over 希拉里·克林顿, 尽管她的普选票数领先近300万票. The presidential election of 2024 will again place the Electoral College in the national spotlight as a close vote total could once again create confusion as both candidates may question the votes in key states and demand reviews of the outcome. Although it would simply be easier to count all the votes from the American public and declare the winner based on who got the most votes, a less complicated and more democratic process of choosing out president does not appear to be possible.