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When I vote for President does my vote count? The answer is indirectly most of the time.

The person who is elected President is chosen by the Electoral College. The Electoral college is made up of electors. Each state is represented by the number of electors that equals the total number of Senators + the number of Congressmen each state has. Since the number of Representatives a state has is determined by population size; the number of electors that represent the larger population states is greater than those represented by lower population states.

According to http://www.votescount.com/book s/elecoll.htm, each party in each state choose their electors according to the number of electors allowed. So that if a state has 7 electoral votes; each party would elect 7 electors. Then when the general election is held and the American people vote, the party that receives the most votes sends their electors to the Electoral college to cast the votes for their party. The President is then elected by receiving the most electoral votes. If their is a tie among candidates then the U.S House of Representative would elect the President.

But, the electors are not bound to vote the way their state has voted. They can choose to cast their votes for any candidate. And because, the most populus states have greater votes, it is possible to have more electoral votes and less popular votes.

So the way it is designed your vote only indirectly influences the outcome of an election. If the electors vote according to the popular vote of the state, you did play a small part when you cast your vote; if you voted for the candidate who won. Otherwise your vote really didn't count at all

Learn more about this author, Cynthia Harlan.
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