The Popular Vote

I said last week that it looked like Hillary Clinton had won the popular vote, but we don't elect presidents by popular vote.  There are very good reasons to have the Electoral College, and we won't review the civics lesson right now.  If you don't understand the difference, do a little research and get current on how we elect a president, then go punch your high school civics teacher in the nose.

However, on the morning of the day after, all the popular votes had not yet been counted.  Google is no help, but it appears that Donald Trump has won not only the electoral college, but also  the popular vote.  As the various local registrars and the state officials clarify their counts, it appears that Trump has won both elections.

The latest numbers I'm seeing come from 70News. As the absentee ballots are counted and the states continue to finalize their numbers, it looks like this.

Trump popular vote 62,972,226
Clinton popular vote 62,277,750

Those numbers are just a footnote, and if anyone has any other data, feel free to chime in the discussion.  But, the electoral vote count has firmed up, and it looks like this:

Trump electoral votes  306
Clinton electoral votes 232

With 538 electoral votes pending, that means Trump has over 56%.  Of course, any number over 270 electoral votes is a win.  The electoral college will meet to decide the race on December 19, with the new president inaugurated on January 20th for a peaceful transfer of office.  The United States has peacefully transferred this office 45 times since our founding, and it is our privilege and joy that this should occur.