# electoral college and bloomberg **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 21, 2007, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electoral-college-and-bloomberg/408907 "2007-06-21T21:24:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![denquixote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@denquixote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/denquixote)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electoral-college-and-bloomberg/408907/1 "2007-06-21T21:24:37Z")
if the electors in most states are selected by the various political parties and are pledged to support their candidate how does an independent or write-in candidate get elected if he has no slate of electors pledged to him? ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electoral-college-and-bloomberg/408907/2 "2007-06-21T21:26:24Z")
IIRC, state electors are not universally bound by political parties. One would need to check among the various states elector requirements. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electoral-college-and-bloomberg/408907/3 "2007-06-21T23:13:28Z")
[QUOTE=dennis gallagher] if the electors in most states are selected by the various political parties and are pledged to support their candidate how does an independent or write-in candidate get elected if he has no slate of electors pledged to him? [/QUOTE] If he’s on the ballot, he’ll have electors pledged to support him. He’ll need to file a slate of electors with his candidate petitions, along with the required number of voter signatures, in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. You won’t see the electors on the ballot in most states, but the Secretary of State will have a list. State law varies as to how write-in votes for president would be filtered through the electoral college, in the unlikely event that a write-in candidate ever carries a state. Needless to say this has never been a live issue. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electoral-college-and-bloomberg/408907/4 "2007-06-21T23:17:27Z")
[QUOTE=Beleaguered LA Sheriff] Some states are winner take all, some are proportional, and I think some are winner take all by district, with perhaps a few at-large. If he wins a majority in any of those contests he gets the electors. Check the election maps and there are always scattered electors going to third party cadidates, sometimes a lot of them, enough to make the major parties nervous. [/QUOTE] Please don’t answer questions if you are this ignorant about politics. Far from there “always” being electors going to third party candidates, no such candidate has won a single pledged elector since 1968. The few instances of single electoral votes for non-candidates have been from “faithless electors” elected by the major parties. No state assigns electors proportionally–not one. Forty-eight states and the District of Columbia assign all electors to the popular vote leader (plurality or majority), and two assign an elector to the winner of each House district, with two at-large votes going to the statewide winner. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electoral-college-and-bloomberg/408907/5 "2007-06-21T23:20:00Z")
[Faithless Elector](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faithless_elector) from Wikipedia. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electoral-college-and-bloomberg/408907/6 "2007-06-22T01:02:21Z")
However, the basic concept is that you obtain the consent of 538 people to be electors pledged to you (as noted above by others, whether that pledge is legally binding will vary with state election laws) and then complete the requirements to get yourself on the ballot in each state. Generally that’s accomplished by your supporters circulating petitions that meet certain minimum criteria. A typical set of petition requirements might be: valid signatures on petitions which together comprise 0.01% of the state’s registered voters including at least one signature from each of a majority of counties in the state and at least one signature from each congressional district within the state. Some states will have very stringent requirements; in some it will be very easy to get ballot space. ---
**Author:** ![denquixote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@denquixote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/denquixote)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electoral-college-and-bloomberg/408907/7 "2007-06-22T03:36:22Z")
[QUOTE=Duckster] IIRC, state electors are not universally bound by political parties. One would need to check among the various states elector requirements. [/QUOTE] actually according to wikipedia they are ---
**Author:** ![denquixote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@denquixote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/denquixote)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electoral-college-and-bloomberg/408907/8 "2007-06-22T03:39:25Z")
[QUOTE=Freddy the Pig] Please don’t answer questions if you are this ignorant about politics. Far from there “always” being electors going to third party candidates, no such candidate has won a single pledged elector since 1968. The few instances of single electoral votes for non-candidates have been from “faithless electors” elected by the major parties. No state assigns electors proportionally–not one. Forty-eight states and the District of Columbia assign all electors to the popular vote leader (plurality or majority), and two assign an elector to the winner of each House district, with two at-large votes going to the statewide winner. [/QUOTE] a little harsh don’t you think? thanks though for the answer. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electoral-college-and-bloomberg/408907/9 "2007-06-22T04:10:39Z")
I don’t think it was that harsh. **Sheriff** ’s answer was almost completely wrong, and **Freddy** simply requested that he not answer questions in a field about which he is obviously unqualified to inform others. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electoral-college-and-bloomberg/408907/10 "2007-06-22T04:41:30Z")
[QUOTE=dennis gallagher] actually according to wikipedia they are [/QUOTE] And that same article says only 24 states have laws on the books to punish electors. My math is a bit rusty but I think that means 26 states do not legally bind their electors. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2007, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electoral-college-and-bloomberg/408907/11 "2007-06-30T21:54:03Z")
Since each state determines how the voting process works, you’d have to check it out for each state, normally through the State Secretary of State, who is generally the official responsible for running the elections. For example, here’s how it works in [Massachusetts](http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/elecoll/collidx.htm) for presidential candidates who don’t belong to either of the two major parties: > [@William Francis Galvin](#): > > **For elector candidates pledged to non-party candidates:** > > The nomination papers for unenrolled candidates for president have spaces for the names and addresses of the candidates for president, vice-president and their twelve elector candidates, and such names are filed as part of the nomination papers. Elector candidates pledged to unenrolled party candidates for president must not be enrolled in any recognized political party in Massachusetts for the 90 day period preceding the filing deadline for nomination papers with the Secretary of the Commonwealth. M. G. L. c. 53, §§ 6, 9 (1998 ed.). The filing deadline with the Secretary of the Commonwealth for nomination papers for elector candidates pledged to non-party candidates is no later than 5:00 p.m. on August 31, 2004. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2007, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electoral-college-and-bloomberg/408907/12 "2007-06-30T23:27:09Z")
[QUOTE=Captain Carrot] I don’t think it was that harsh. **Sheriff** ’s answer was almost completely wrong, and **Freddy** simply requested that he not answer questions in a field about which he is obviously unqualified to inform others. [/QUOTE] **Sheriff** ’s post has disappeared so sockdom must be assumed. I don’t know the entirety of the post. But given the statements quoted by **Freddy** , however, the harshness accusation is justified. > [@](#): > > Some states are winner take all, some are proportional, and I think some are winner take all by district, with perhaps a few at-large. No proportional states, but the other two statements are correct. > [@](#): > > If he wins a majority in any of those contests he gets the electors. Correct. > [@](#): > > Check the election maps and there are always scattered electors going to third party cadidates, sometimes a lot of them, enough to make the major parties nervous. To me this clearly was referring to general elections for all positions around the country, not merely presidential elections. If so, this statement is completely correct. Looks to me like **Freddy** badly misread the answer and overreacted. It needed a tweak of correction, not a hammer. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electoral-college-and-bloomberg/408907/13 "2007-07-01T00:07:47Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] To me this clearly was referring to general elections for all positions around the country, not merely presidential elections. If so, this statement is completely correct. [/QUOTE] He said “electors.” In which general elections are electors chosen for positions aside from President and Vice President of the United States? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electoral-college-and-bloomberg/408907/14 "2007-07-01T04:40:31Z")
[QUOTE=dennis gallagher] actually according to wikipedia they are [/QUOTE] They can be punished after the fact, but they can’t be prevented from voting for whomever they choose. Once the votes are cast, they are valid and unchangeable. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electoral-college-and-bloomberg/408907/15 "2007-07-01T05:00:13Z")
[QUOTE=Colibri] He said “electors.” In which general elections are electors chosen for positions aside from President and Vice President of the United States? [/QUOTE] He said “electors.” But every other word in this sentence: “Check the election maps and there are always scattered electors going to third party cadidates, sometimes a lot of them, enough to make the major parties nervous.” seems to indicate that he meant to type “elections.” Maybe not. We’ll never know. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electoral-college-and-bloomberg/408907/16 "2007-07-01T05:37:15Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] He said “electors.” But every other word in this sentence: “Check the election maps and there are always scattered electors going to third party cadidates, sometimes a lot of them, enough to make the major parties nervous.” seems to indicate that he meant to type “elections.” [/QUOTE] I doubt this very much. The post in general was about electors, and since the previous sentence specifically referred to electors I don’t see any reason why he should have meant “elections” there. I agree with **Freddy** that overall the answer was pretty clueless, and this misstatement was consistent with that.