Electoral College math

There is an effort by some to remove the Electoral College from America’s Constitution. If that effort succeeds, then baseball’s World Series and the NBA Championships would also need to be removed. For you see, there is a commonality in how the winner is determined in all three contests: the most games won.

Say in the World Series, Team A won the first game 13-2. Yet Team B won the next four games 2-1, 1-0, 3-2 and 4-3. Team A accumulated 19 home runs, but team B only got 12. The series winner is not determined by who accumulated the most home runs but who won the most games. The same is true with the NBA Championships – the most games won vs the most points accumulated.

The Electoral College determines the winner the same way. Each individual state is a game. A candidate who wins a state’s election wins the state’s electors, or a majority of electors. Win the most states, you win the most electorates and you win the presidency.

So, to those who can’t win by the Electoral College and so cry that the Electoral College isn’t fair, remember, “There’s no crying in baseball” either!

Doug Belcher

Spokane