Ever heard the phrase ‘As Ohio goes, so goes the nation’? This means Ohio State acts as a “big one” in the U.S. presidential election. The Dankook Herald (DKH) wanted to learn more about the presidential election system in the U.S. and find out why presidential candidates focus on swing states, especially Ohio. The DKH uncovered some reasons for Ohio’s role as an influential swing state.

▲ The Ohio State flag.

The system of presidential election in the U.S. is very different from the one in Korea. The U.S. has an electoral college process where designated electors votes for a president and vice president, while voters choose instead, those electors that will represent their interests in the electoral college voting process.

The U.S. electoral college has the sole responsibility of electing the president and vice president every four years, while citizens of the U.S. instead elect a designate in the college, who almost always pledges in advance to vote for a particular presidential and vice presidential candidate. The election of a member to the electoral college is governed according to laws applicable in a given state.

This is a very different process from that of other countries. Prof. John Green (Dept. of Political Science, University of Akron) said, “Presidents are elected indirectly. The number of electors nominated in each state is determined by adding two senators per state to the number of U.S. representatives in that state, which is determined by the region’s population, and that number is revised every ten years. The electors of that state elect the President.” This is why swing states are so important. Some states are very clear how they are going to vote, for example, California is very republican, but New York is traditionally democratic, so candidates do not waste their money campaigning hard in those areas because it is already clear how they will vote. Instead, they focus on swing states, which are neither republican no democrat, such as Florida, Ohio, and Nevada. So how did Ohio become an important swing state in the U.S? For the answer to this question we need to look at the area’s history, economy and geography.

▲ Professor Kenneth J Bindas (Dept. of History, Kent State University)

Ohio has a complicated history. It was settled region by region. First Ohio was a large piece of territory that didn’t have a government. Prof. Kenneth J Bindas (Dept. of History, Kent University) said, “When Ohio was first settled in the 18th century, people set down in the northeastern side of New England where the town of Kent is located today. Later in 1988, immigrants including Eastern European Jews, Italians, and Catholics took up residence in urban areas like Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati. These divergent community settlements are the main reason Ohio became a direct area of influence.” In other words, Ohio was settled region by region and became a diverse cultural state with very different standards of living and environments across the territory leading to it having no singular political tendency or common thread of interest. This is why it is still today considered a swing state.

The level of participation of people in their 20’s in U.S. elections differ from the level of participation for that same demographic in South Korea. Participation of young people in elections in general is more active in Ohio because it is a swing state in presidential elections. For instance, on December 3, there was an election regarding several state issues at Kent University and even though it was not a presidential election, many Kent State students and local citizens came out to vote. The easiest way to participate in political issues is by exercising your right to vote. The active voice of youth in their 20s is always the critical key to bring about change, but voter turnout of people in their 20s in the 18th presidential election in the Republic of Korea was remarkably low. In fact, their low voter turnout earned them the tag as the ‘ignorant generation’. Almost all students at Kent University are really interested in the issues. They get information through SNS. However, despite their avid interest, professors at the university remain worried about the political apathy of Americans in their 20s. Though college students have an interest in political issues, Americans in general in their twenties demonstrate a pretty low level of interest. According to Prof. Danielle Coombs (Dept. of
Journalism and Mass Communication) political participation is low among people in their 20s because the major policies do not directly affect young people.

Unlike Koreans, Americans are also not reluctant to reveal their political affiliation and they accept the opinions of others. They are used to showing their political affiliation through stickers on their cars and by supporting candidates on SNS. During our interview, they spoke out supporting their candidates freely without restraint. The U.S is a very complicated country. They have a large population and territory. They have a very different system for electing their president. The DKH reported on Ohio being a special state in the U.S. and revealed some reasons why this is the case. Many Americans don’t know why they have the complicated Electoral College system, nevertheless, while this system has its supporters and critics, it remains entrenched in their constitution as the only means to elect the nation’s President and Vice President.