... system literally means that the candidate team that wins most of the plurality votes in a particular state gets all of the electoral votes in that state, and the loser gets none, even if the loss is marginal. For example, all 54 of California's electoral votes go to the winner of that state election, even if the margin of victory is only 50.1% to 49.9%. Another weakness in the system is the possibility of "faithless electors" who defect from the candidate to whom they are pledged. Twenty- six states have no requirement that electors vote in accordance with the popular vote. Nineteen states and D.C. mandate that they vote in accordance with the popular vote but, there's no penalty if an elector fails to do so. Only 5 states have penalties for deviating from the popular vote, but the sanctions are very small. The main danger of faithless electors is ...

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