Election Day in America!

Today is election day in America!  I will be taking Jule to the poll with me to cast my vote after I pick her up from school so that she can see how the process works.

In America, it's important for us to vote.  When America was born, not everyone had the right to vote.  Many people fought and died for the right to get and keep our freedom to choose our leaders.  My father and both my grandfathers were at times part of the U.S. military.  To honor their sacrifices, as well as the work done by people around to U.S. to give me the right to vote as a woman, I always cast my vote!

However... there are some controversies about our voting process...

Here is something that most people outside of America may not know:  my vote technically does not count.  The U.S. President is not elected by popular vote (the most votes by the people).  The U.S. President is elected by an "Electoral College."  The "Electoral College" is a group of 538 people (the number is based on the total voting membership of the U.S. Congress) plus three electors from Washington D.C.  After all votes are tallied for Arkansas, the Electoral College places their votes.  Arkansas has only six electoral votes for President, while California (for instance) has 55 votes.  In almost EVERY state in the U.S. the Electoral College places its votes for whomever wins the state.  This is what we call "winner takes all."  If 50,000 people vote for Mitt Romney, but 50,001 people vote for Barack Obama, then all six of Arkansas' votes for President go to Barack Obama.  All of those 50,000 people who voted for Mitt Romney are ignored.  This seems extremely unfair... to me and many (if not most) Americans.

So why is our voting process this way?  It was actually established when our Constitution was written.  For some reason, our founding fathers thought that using the popular vote to decide President was "reckless" but they also didn't want to give the complete power to elect President to our Congress.  Somehow they came up with this "Electoral College" method I've described above, along with the suggestion that all electoral votes *should* go to the person who wins the popular vote of the state.  There is no law that states our electoral college MUST cast their votes for whomever wins the state, but generally that's what happens.  Needless to say, many Americans do not like this complex and unfair process.  And really, I have no idea why nobody ever tries to change it.  There have been several presidential candidates in our history who have WON the popular vote from the people but have lost the election because of the electoral votes.

Here is a map of each state and how many "electoral votes" will be given today.

Despite my feeling that the election process is unfair, I will still cast my vote.  Today, I have shared my personal decision with Jule only, as well as the reasons for my choice.  Quite honestly, the country will be well-served with either one as our leader.

BEST OF LUCK TO BOTH CANDIDATES!