As the country awaits the final presidential election results, University professors are already formulating their opinions about the future of the Electoral College.
Julie Novkov, an assistant professor in political science, is anticipating the announcement of the next president, but said she thinks the final outcome could have complications because the race is so close.
Novkov said she heard that nearly 2,500 Florida voters accidentally cast their votes for Pat Buchanan while meaning to vote for Vice President Al Gore. The mistakes apparently resulted from the unclear layout of the Palm Beach County ballots.
However, Novkov said she thinks either candidate will face questions once he becomes the president-elect.
“We obviously have to wait and see what the recount is, but [the 2,500 votes] could be the margin for victory,” she said, adding that she thinks this kind of mistake could give Gore’s campaign grounds to file a lawsuit.
If Bush wins, she said, many could argue that the voting process was unfair.
“I hope the winner emerges with some kind of legitimacy, but I think that’s unlikely at this point,” she said.
Contrary to popular belief, candidates don’t win the White House just by winning the popular vote. When voters cast their votes in the presidential election every four years, they are actually voting for their candidates’ electors. The number of electors in each state is equal to the number of Congress members it has — so Oregon, for example, has seven electors. To gain the presidency, a candidate has to win 270 electoral votes.
This year’s presidential race is likely the closest ever, with the two major-party candidates in a stalemate until one of them wins Florida’s 25 electoral votes.
Though the uncertain results are casting doubt on the process, Novkov said she thinks the Electoral College is important because Oregon would not have received as much attention from the presidential candidates otherwise.
Priscilla Southwell, a political science professor and head of the political science department, said she thinks it is unfortunate that the presidential results are still not determined and that the Electoral College is not efficient for this particular race.
“Most other countries make the popular vote a requirement to win the majority, and I don’t know why we don’t do the same,” she said.
The popular vote should determine the outcome, Southwell said, and if no one earns the popular vote, the top two candidates should have a run-off to determine the winner. This kind of strategy could prevent waiting for results because the country would not be dependent on electoral votes, she said.
Southwell also said the television media could have been more accurate in reporting the presidential election results.
“Calling state results should be held off as long as possible until polls are closed on the West Coast,” she said.
Novkov said she hopes that everyone is aware that several election results cannot be written off at this time because it is still too soon to tell the outcomes of many of the races.
Alan Meyer, a professor of management in the business school, said he thinks the extreme closeness of the presidential race shows neither candidate had a vision for the future because they could not inspire the electors. Neither candidate was able to capture the critical mass because they both avoided tough issues, he said.
Meyer, however, thinks this waiting period is exciting.
“This is an election to end speculation that your vote could never count,” he said.