{"id":2219967,"date":"2024-04-13T06:26:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-13T10:26:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-two-states-count-their-delegates-differently-in-presidential-elections\/"},"modified":"2024-04-13T06:30:56","modified_gmt":"2024-04-13T10:30:56","slug":"why-two-states-count-their-delegates-differently-in-presidential-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-two-states-count-their-delegates-differently-in-presidential-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"Explore the reasons why two states tally their delegates uniquely in presidential contests"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwhy-two-states-count-their-delegates-differently-in-presidential-elections%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2219967&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The text delves into the\u200d unique methods \u200bemployed by \u2063Maine and\u2064 Nebraska in delegating their electoral votes, utilizing the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-red-wave-of-conservative-women-elected-to-congress\/\" title=\"The Red Wave of Conservative Women Elected to Congress\">congressional district<\/a>\u2062 approach. \u200cThese states allocate \u200ctwo electoral votes \u2063to the\u200b popular vote \u200bwinner, with the\u200d rest distributed\u200c based on congressional district outcomes, allowing\u200c for split elector allocation. \u2063The \u200carticle also discusses recent developments and potential impacts on future elections.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>On <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/2024-elections\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>election<\/a> night in November, not every state will delegate their electors the same way. <\/p>\n<p>Rather than use the \u201cwinner-take-all\u201d method that 48 other states use, Maine and Nebraska delegate their electoral votes in a different way. The two states use the congressional district method. <\/p>\n<p>Under the congressional district method, states allocate two electoral votes to the state\u2019s popular vote winner. Each delegate after that is awarded to the winner in each congressional district. There are two congressional districts in Maine and three in Nebraska. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery other state has opted to use the same method, which the winner of the popular vote in their states gets all of the electoral votes from the state. This isn\u2019t required in the Constitution. In fact, states can use whatever method they want,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/elections.wisc.edu\/staff\/burden-barry\/\">Barry Burden<\/a>, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and founding director of the Elections Research Center, told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom about the 1830s on, most states have decided to use the popular vote and winner take all, so Maine and Nebraska are unusual in that they allocate their electors in a split fashion. It\u2019s possible for more than one candidate to win electors,\u201d Burden said. <\/p>\n<h2>Maine\u2019s long history with the method<\/h2>\n<p>In 1972, Maine was the first state to enact such a rule. For 44 years, the state voted uniformly. During the 2016 election, Maine\u2019s 2nd Congressional District, which covers the majority of the state outside of Portland and Augusta, split from the rest of the state and voted in favor of former President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p>The state was reliably Democratic as a whole until former President Donald Trump won the 2nd District.\u00a0Trump won the district again in 2020 despite losing the state\u2019s popular vote.<\/p>\n<p>Maine\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/smart-news\/why-do-maine-and-nebraska-split-their-electoral-votes-180976219\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>history<\/a> with splitting the electoral vote, however, came much earlier in 1820 when the Pine Tree state seceded from Massachusetts. In 1828, the state switched back to the common \u201cwinner-take-all\u201d method.\u00a0A century and a half later, it reverted to the congressional district method.<\/p>\n<p>The switch came about over concerns that Maine could award their electoral votes to someone who only won 34% of the vote. Democratic state Rep. Glenn Starbird Jr. proposed a return to the congressional district method. Legislators approved the measure under\u00a0\u201cthe assumption that other states would follow suit.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Only one did: Nebraska, two decades later. <\/p>\n<h2>Nebraska\u2019s recent push for winner take all<\/h2>\n<p>Since 1992, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2024\/04\/10\/nebraska-gop-trump-election-rules-00151499\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Nebraska<\/a> has followed Maine\u2019s footsteps and enacted the same electoral method. Their split came much quicker in 2008 when the district representing Omaha and its suburbs voted for former President Barack Obama.  <\/p>\n<p>Now, a recent push from Trump and Gov. Jim Pillen (R-NE) looks\u00a0back to using the winner-take-all method, just six months out from the election. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cStates are definitely allowed to change their rules for allocating electors as long as they do before the election before any voting has taken place,\u201d Burden said. \u201cIt does a disservice to voters and campaigns to be tinkering with the rules as we get closer to Election Day.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If this happened, it would likely give back one electoral vote from Nebraska to the Republicans. Since Obama\u2019s victory in 2008, the district has been a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/book-obama-enamored-with-beto-orourke-skeptical-of-joe-biden-in-2020-democratic-primary\/\" title=\"Book: Obama \u2018Enamored\u2019 with Beto O\u2019Rourke, Skeptical of Joe Biden in 2020 Democratic Primary\">swing district<\/a>. Trump won Nebraska\u2019s 2nd District in 2016, but it flipped blue for President Joe Biden in 2020. <\/p>\n<p>Pillen is floating an idea of holding a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/update-letter-by-ted-cruz-and-6-gop-senators-and-4-senators-elect-sign-letter-to-reject-election-call-for-election-commission-10-day-emergency-audit-takes-place\/\" title=\"UPDATE: Letter by Ted Cruz and 6 GOP Senators and 4 Senators-Elect Sign Letter to Reject Election \u2013 Call For Election Commission 10-Day Emergency Audit Takes Place\">special legislative session<\/a> to change how the state casts its electoral votes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI look forward to partnering with legislative leaders to [move] it forward in a special session, when there is sufficient support in the Legislature to pass it,\u201d Pillen <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TeamPillen\/status\/1777882507544793455\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>posted on X<\/a>. \u201cI will sign [winner take all] into law the moment the Legislature gets it to my desk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt does seem problematic to be tinkering with something so important as we get closer to Election Day,\u201d Burden said.<\/p>\n<p>Although it\u2019s unlikely the election could come down to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-worry-third-party-candidate-will-hand-2024-election-to-republicans\/\" title=\"Dems fear third-party candidate may give 2024 win to GOP.\">single electoral vote<\/a>, it\u2019s possible. It\u2019s almost happened before in the 2000 election when Florida held up the election results for nearly a month.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt would have been possible for Gore and Bush to have split the Electoral College 269 to 269. In which case it would have been thrown into the House,\u201d Burden said. <\/p>\n<p>The 2024 general election is set to be a close race, and it\u2019s possible for the election to come down to a single electoral vote. Election math points to a scenario in which Nebraska\u2019s 2nd District could really sway the election. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome people have pointed out this year that if Biden were to hold on to Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, those three <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/never-trumpers-fan-out-to-bolster-bidens-blue-wall\/\" title=\"Anti-Trump supporters spread out to strengthen Biden's Democratic stronghold\">blue wall states<\/a>, but he loses the other two states that flipped last time, Georgia and Arizona, there could be a 269-269 tie depending on what happens with that one stray elector in Nebraska,\u201d Burden said. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo it\u2019s not crazy with just, as you know, a small number of states that are really in play you can sort of run through some scenarios and a few of them, make it a tie vote,\u201d Burden said. <\/p>\n<h2>The case for winner take all<\/h2>\n<p>All 48 other states currently use the winner-take-all method, which gives all of their electoral votes to the same candidate who wins the state\u2019s popular vote. Some states have explored other methods which have largely gone nowhere, but other states are likely pleased to keep business as usual. Burden said most states keep things the way they are because of \u201cinertia.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\u201cStates have been doing this method for the most part for a long time, and it\u2019s not perfect. People are unhappy with the system at times, but they would also be unhappy with other ideas that were proposed,\u201d Burden said. \u201cStates are often just sort of stuck where they are.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Some states like California, New York, or Texas, may be reluctant to give a fraction of their large number of electoral votes to a different party.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDemocrats in California, for example, are pretty happy to give all of their electoral votes to the Democratic candidate,\u201d Burden said. \u201cI think a lot of Democrats here would be reluctant to change to a different system.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said Wisconsin, which is one of seven highly contested swing states this year, explored a change to the winner-take-all system. Wisconsin Republicans proposed a change that would mirror Maine and Nebraska\u2019s method. It didn\u2019t go very far however, due to the fact Wisconsin at the time was considered to be one of the most <a href=\"https:\/\/gerrymander.princeton.edu\/redistricting-report-card\/?planId=recAW6q19I516nHpc\">gerrymandered<\/a> places in the country. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt looked to Democrats like it was a political ploy because of the eight congressional districts in Wisconsin, Republicans currently hold six,\u201d Burden said. \u201cSo [Republicans] would have gotten three-quarters of the districts, even though it\u2019s a purple state, plus they would have gotten the two statewide at large.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maine and Nebraska\u2019s congressional district method reminds the country that they don\u2019t have to use the winner-take-all method. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cHaving Maine and Nebraska out there as examples of alternative ways of doing this is a healthy part of the discussion about the Electoral College,\u201d Burden said. \u201cBecause so many states have not changed the rules for many decades, that seeing these two options out there reminds us it\u2019s possible for states to use different methods.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Burden, however, warned that every state adopting this method could be a slippery slope into extreme gerrymandering if Presidential elections could be decided by congressional districts. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title><strong>CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt would put a lot of pressure on the people who draw district lines to really rig the system in favor of their party,\u201d Burden said. \u201cNot only do those lines affect the makeup of Congress, they would have now effect on who won the White House.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019d be a lot of pressure to say, even in states that right now are not battleground states for every district to be configured in a way to advantage the party that\u2019s in charge of drawing the lines there,\u201d Burden said. \u201cSo I think it would put gerrymandering on steroids; That would be a bad thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On election night in November, Maine and Nebraska diverge from the &#8220;winner-take-all&#8221; approach used by most states. They employ the congressional district method, allocating electoral votes differently. Each state reserves two votes for the statewide winner, with the remaining votes distributed based on congressional district outcomes, offering a unique electoral approach<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2910,"featured_media":2219968,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP08110509247-1024x603.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2219967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP08110509247-1024x603.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2219967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2910"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2219967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2219967\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2219968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2219967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2219967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2219967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}