Electoral college

How it works, precisely

Voters are split into districts, each holding a number of electors. In Placet, that division and weighting are freely configurable.

Each district runs its own count — the local method is your choice — and awards its electors to the local winner, either as a block or proportionally.

The elector total designates the winner. That total does not depend on the number of votes but on their geographic DISTRIBUTION: that is the whole difference.

A worked example

Three districts, 100 voters, 10 electors each.

1. A narrowly wins North and Centre: 20 electors.
2. B crushes the South: 10 electors.
3. On total votes: A 39, B 61. B leads by 22 votes and loses the election.

B's surplus votes in the South are wasted. This phenomenon — concentrating your support is inefficient — is at the heart of every critique of indirect voting, and of gerrymandering.

Where it comes from

The American electoral college was born of the constitutional compromise of 1787: the framers wanted neither election by Congress nor a direct popular vote they considered risky. Each state receives electors equal to its congressional representation.

Statewide winner-take-all is not in the Constitution: the states adopted it gradually themselves, to maximise their own weight. Maine and Nebraska still depart from it.

In France, the Senate is elected indirectly by roughly 162,000 grands électeurs, overwhelmingly delegates of municipal councils — which structurally explains its over-representation of rural communes.

Where it is used

• The US presidential election.
• Election of the French Senate by grands électeurs.
• Federations, confederations and corporate groups voting by entity.
• Any organisation where the components must count as such, not merely by headcount.

Limits and pitfalls

Frequently asked questions