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Question
#38009. greg9570
asks:
Has it ever happened that the Electoral College has overturned a state's winner? e.g. If Bush wins Kentucky, they overrule it that Gore wins it. How is favoritism of one party kept out of the Electoral College to ensure a fair election?
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skylarb
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Electors pledge to vote for the nominees of their party, but they are not required legally to do so by the constitution, so they can conceivably switch their votes and betray those they pledged to elect. This has been done by individual electors before. Some examples:
1820 -- New Hampshire elector votes for John Quincy Adams, but was pledged to vote for James MONROE;
1960 -- Oklahoma elector votes for Harry F. Byrd instead of Richard Nixon, an again in 1968 a North Carolina elector votes for George C. Wallace instead of Nixon.
1988 -- West Virginia elector votes for Lloyd Bentsen instead of Dukakis.
However, these individual reversals have not yet affected an election as a whole—that is, no candidate has ever won because of an electoral college that has reversed its votes from what it pledged to vote.
So, although there is no GURANTEE electors won't change thier votes in such a way as to affect the final results of an election, it is not likely to happen, and has not yet happened.
Sep 03 03, 3:35 PM
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