The past two days have been filled with claims of states being called too early as mail-in votes have flooded in, and with some states experienced counting delays.
This has lead to different news agencies and pundits publishing differing Electoral College votes for the competing candidates.
What is going on?
Apart from the rapidly developing situation with mail-in votes, both Maine and Nebraska do not use the “winner takes all” approach in the Electoral College system, where a candidate who wins the popular vote in a state, wins all of the electoral votes. Instead, they opt for something called the "congressional district method." News of each candidate pulling ahead in those states quickly caused confusion.
BREAKING:
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) November 4, 2020
TRUMP to win #MAINE #Election2020
The Electoral College system has been highly controversial over the years, sometimes delivering victories for candidates who did not win the popular vote – as happened in 2016, when President Donald Trump received 3 million votes less than Hilary Clinton.
In America’s federal system, some states decided to opt out of this winner takes all system and inject a little more local democracy into the process, by applying the congressional district method.
In Maine, two of its four electoral votes go to the candidate who wins the most votes in the state, but then an electoral vote is given to candidates who win the most votes in its congressional districts.
This can lead to a split result in the state, which has confused some pundits. For the state as a whole, Maine has not voted entirely Republican since 1988.
The state decided to split the vote in 1820 after seceding from Massachusetts, but has experimented with both approaches since then, settling back to the split system in 1972.
Energising local democracy was exactly what Ernie Chambers wanted when he served on the Nebraska state legislature from 1971, retiring earlier this year.
Political scientist Andrew R Schrock recounted in a viral twitter thread how Mr Chambers fought for Nebraska's right to keep the split vote, after facing multiple challenges from Republicans to the state's status, soon after it adopted the system in 1992.
My wife @RebeccaSittler, a Nebraska native, reminded me today of why NE splits its electoral votes.
— Dr. Andrew R. Schrock (@aschrock) November 4, 2020
If Biden does not win PA, NE's single electoral vote (from districts around Omaha) will be why he has 270. THIS lone blue dot.
The reason is Ernie Chambers. pic.twitter.com/z2YVfannpi
Because of Mr Chambers' efforts, Nebraska still gives two of its five electoral votes to the state-wide winner, leaving three votes for congressional districts.
