How many times has a president won the electoral vote (and the presidency) without winning the popular vote?
A. Four, most recently in 2000, when a close election in Florida caused recounts and eventually the intervention of the US Supreme Court, which ruled in favour of George W Bush. He won with 271 electoral votes although Democrat Gore won the overall popular vote. (Bush had 50 455 156 votes, or 47%, to Gore’s 50 992 335, or 48%.) The other elections were in 1824, 1876 and 1888. Q. Did the 2000 Census affect the distribution of electoral votes? A. Yes. One of the primary functions of the Census is to reallocate congressional representation – which means the number of electoral votes per state can change. Some states lose population while others gain, causing a slight shift in electoral votes. The most any state gained as a result of the 2000 Census was two votes and the most lost was two votes as well. Winners include Florida and Texas, which gained two votes each. New York and Pennsylvania each lost two. Q. Why is it called a “college”? A. The founding fathers loved all things classical,
