OHIO — When voters go to the polls next Tuesday not only will their individual ballots count, but their collective vote with other Ohioans will play an important part in determining who will win the White House.
Presidential elections are mostly a state-by-state contest. The winner in Ohio, for example, will get all of Ohio’s 18 votes in the Electoral College.
Then, as the results roll in Tuesday night, the Electoral votes from each state captured by the leading candidate begin to add up. The candidate to reach 270 votes in the Electoral College wins the election. After the vote totals are certified by county boards of election the results are made final. After that determination, the electors meet in their state capitols to cast their ballots on behalf of the voters. Technically it is that election that makes the winner the next President of the United States.
In 2016 Judy Westbrock, Centerville, was an Elector for the 10th Congressional District, including Montgomery, Greene and part of Fayette counties. “Most people are chosen (to be Electors) because they have been active in the ( political ) party,” Westbrock said.
This year if President Donald Trump wins re-election Rob Scott of Kettering will go to the Statehouse in Columbus in mid-December and cast a ballot in the Electoral College for President Trump. Scott began his involvement with the Trump campaign back in 2015. “This has been a historic President. I have been helping him over the last five years,” Scott said.
If Former Vice President Joe Biden wins the election it will be Montgomery County Democratic Party Chairman Mark Owens who will go to Columbus to cast a vote for Biden in the Electoral College. "I am hoping that
I’m going to Columbus. If he wins Ohio then he wins the nation," Owens said.
The Electoral College has been the target of critics for more than 100 years. They say it is outdated and does not fairly represent the will of the people. In 2016, for example, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote nationwide, but lost the election because Trump’s support was spread out among more states and he was able to capture more votes in the Electoral College.
Scott said keeping the current system aids Ohio and prevents candidates form focusing on just the most populated states. “If we did not have the Electoral College, all of the focus would be on California, New York and Florida and Ohio would be left out in the cold,” Scott said.
While there have been attempts to reform the voting system in the past, even since 2016, nothing currently is close to being adopted.
Cox Media Group
