History was made last night for many reasons, one of which is Hillary Clinton is the fifth presidential candidate ever, to win the popular vote, but lose the election.
About 200,000 more people voted for Hillary Clinton than did Donald Trump.
The Electoral College determines who wins and the popular vote is just a small piece of the entire puzzle.
Clinton winning the popular vote and losing the election is a formula that hasn’t been seen in 16 years.
It happened in 2000; Al Gore won the popular vote by a slim margin, but George Bush took the election by winning the Electoral College.
It happened this time too.
The Electoral College is built in a way that enables a candidate to win big in the popular vote but lose overall.
To win a state’s electoral votes, you must win its popular vote. Some states have much larger populations than others. Take for instance New York and California, where voters overwhelmingly supported Clinton. That advantage did not give her an edge though in the supremely important Electoral College.
Political pundits know the importance of key swing states that can ultimately control Electoral College count. Trump won just enough votes in power players like Florida, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania to take it all.
Because of the way the Electoral College is structured, it is actually possible for a candidate to win less than 30% of the popular vote, but get elected to the White House.
