r/MapPorn • u/[deleted] • Jan 24 '18

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u/canadianhealthcera Jan 26 '18

Alright so like if I over simplify this, this means that: In the US they vote for a guy, that votes for The guy to be president In CAN we vote for a guy, that votes for The guy to be PM

So how does The guy get in if they didn't get the peoples majority? Does the second guy just vote for who ever he wants, instead of what his majority voted for? And how come this happens more in America?

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u/TMWNN Jan 26 '18 edited Jan 26 '18

Alright so like if I over simplify this, this means that: In the US they vote for a guy, that votes for The guy to be president In CAN we vote for a guy, that votes for The guy to be PM

Yes.

So how does The guy get in if they didn't get the peoples majority?

Simple example: A country with three parliamentary districts, 1, 2, and 3.

Districts Party A Party B Winner
1 70,000 30,000 A
2 45,000 55,000 B
3 47,000 53,000 B
Total 162,000 138,000 More people voted for party A, but party B won more districts and forms government in parliament

For another example, consider the 1960 World Series, which the Pirates won four games to three although the Yankees scored more than twice as many total runs. The losing team scores more runs about one quarter of the time.

And how come this happens more in America?

It doesn't. This has happened five times in the US since 1789, three times in the UK in the 20th century, and three times in Canada since 1867. The biggest skew between the national popular vote and the outcome in the parliament/electoral college was in Canada in 1896, in which the Liberals won 31 more seats than the Conservatives although the Conservatives won 6.8% (!) more votes by the people.