Most American voters know that the popular vote doesn’t determine the winner of the Presidential Election, but they aren’t sure exactly how the process works.  Before registering to vote online, finding local polling locations and casting a ballot for President, most people want to know “Does my vote count?”

Yes, your vote will be counted if you vote for the President in the 2016 election, but it won’t necessarily help determine the outcome.  This answer leads most people to the obvious next question of “how much does my vote count” if it doesn’t matter in the outcome of the election.  The Presidential election process can be complicated, but we’ll do our best to explain how it works.

In short, when you vote for President your ballot is only counted on the state level.  In theory, the electoral votes from your state will go to whichever candidate received the most votes within that state.  Unfortunately, the electoral college can actually assign votes to whichever candidate they want – regardless of how the citizens of the state vote.  In fact, the electoral college has gone against the popular vote several times.

If your vote doesn’t count directly in the election, does that mean you shouldn’t vote for President?  While your vote doesn’t matter in this election, it is counted, and could help change the way our electoral process works.  The popular vote results are always reported alongside the electoral vote totals in general elections.  As recently as 2004, the United States popular vote was in favor of one candidate – while the electoral college chose the other.  Could this happen again in 2016?

In most cases, the electoral college does vote the same way the popular vote does.  But what would happen if the electoral college didn’t agree with the popular vote in 2016?  With election media coverage at an all-time high, the potential backlash of the delegates voting against the people would have the potential to create political chaos.  Rather than wondering “does my vote count?” – people should be asking “how can I make my vote matter more?”

You can make your Vote for President matter more with the power of social media than you ever could before.  Did you know that friends opinions are more likely to sway voters opinions than Presidential debates?  Here’s one way that you can make your vote count, and influence others to support the same candidate as you.

Take part by voting for the President now in our online election poll, and then share the results with your friends on social media!