Election Day to Determine Ten Electoral Votes

The state’s Democratic and Republican parties chose their Electoral College representatives earlier this month.

The Republican and Democratic Parties of Wisconsin each choose 10 electors that work closely with the party. Then, if President Obama wins the popular vote, all ten Democrats will cast their electoral votes. If Mitt Romney wins in Wisconsin, the ten Republicans will do the same.

UW-Milwaukee political science professor Kathleen Dolan says people are looking at Wisconsin as one of nine swing states. She says campaigns know how many Electoral College votes they’ll get in solid blue and red states. So now, Dolan says they’re focusing on the states that will get them to the magic number of 270, “Wisconsin is important in that we’re in that mix. But where we become important moving forward is what combination of those nine states does President Obama win and what combination does Mitt Romney win and does it get them where they need to be?”

UW-Madison political science professor Ken Mayer says in uncompetitive states that have a lot of electoral votes, like California and Texas, candidates don’t campaign there. He says it’s problematic that the election essentially focuses on a small number of states and the number of electoral votes they have, “And it seems like the epicenter at this time is in Florida, Ohio, and Wisconsin because it’s unlikely either candidate can win without winning if not all three, at least two of those states.”

But Mayer says if the presidential race was determined by the popular vote, smaller states, like Wisconsin, could be ignored by candidates.