VOA慢速英语2016 美国总统是如何选举出来的?（在线收听）

AS IT IS 2016-05-17 How America Elects Its President 美国总统是如何选举出来的?

A new report shows Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton running a close race in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

一个新的报告显示唐纳德·特朗普和希拉里·克林顿在佛罗里达州、俄亥俄州和宾夕法尼亚州进行一场势均力敌的比赛。

The report from Quinnipiac University was considered important news, even though it described voter opinions in just three of the 50 U.S. states. The reason? Because how people vote in those three states could decide who becomes president.

尽管昆尼皮亚克大学的报告只描述了美国50个州中的三个州选民的观点，它仍然被认为是重要的新闻。原因是什么？原因在于这三个州中人们的投票将决定谁会成为总统。

“The American presidential election is now centered on a shrinking number of battleground states to decide the winner,” said Eric Ostermeier, a political scientist at the University of Minnesota.

“美国总统大选现在把战场集中在数量减少后的几个州上，以此来决定赢家。”埃里克——明尼苏达大学政治学家说。

These battleground states are also called “swing states,” meaning that sometimes their voters choose a Democratic candidate and sometimes a Republican.

这些作为战场的州也被称为“摇摆的州”，这意味着他们有时选择民主党候选人,有时选择共和党候选人。

The media focus so much on these states because of how Americans elect their president.

媒体如此关注这些州是因为他们关注美国人如何选择他们的总统。

The Electoral College

总统选举团

Americans go the polls to vote for president on November 8, but the candidate with the most votes does not automatically win. The winner is decided by the 538 members of the Electoral College.

11月8日，美国人开始投票选举总统，但是获得多数票的候选人并不能直接胜出成为总统。赢家是由总统选举团的538名成员决定的。

The Electoral College does not have any students or teachers. Instead, it is a group of people who represent their states in the U.S. presidential contest.

总统选举团中没有任何学生或者老师。相反，他们是一群在美国总统竞选时代表他们州的人。

Each state has the same number of members in the Electoral College that they have representatives in Congress. That number is decided by the state's population.

每个州都有相同数量的成员，他们是国会的代表。成员的数量取决于州的人口数。

States with the smallest number, including Alaska and Vermont, have three members of the Electoral College. The state with the largest number, California, has 55.

人口数量最少的州，包括阿拉斯加和佛蒙特州,有三个选举团的成员。人口数量最多的州——加利福尼亚，有55个选举团成员。

The U.S. Constitution, which established the Electoral College system, does not require members of the Electoral College to vote for the candidate who won the popular vote in their states. But they almost always do.

建立了总统选举团制度的宪法没有要求选举团的成员必须投票给在他们州里赢得选票的候选人。但是他们几乎都会这么做。

As a result, in most states, candidates do not benefit more by winning a larger percentage of the popular vote. So, if 99 percent of voters in California select Hillary Clinton, she will receive all of California's 55 votes in the Electoral College. If only 51 percent of voters in California select Hillary Clinton, she will still receive all of California's 55 Electoral College votes.

因此，在大多数州里，候选人赢得更大比例的选票对他们来说没有更多的好处。如果在加利福尼亚州有99%的选民选择希拉里·克林顿，她将得到加利福尼亚州的55个选举团选票。如果只有51%的选民在加利福尼亚州选择希拉里·克林顿,她仍然会得到加利福尼亚州的55个选举团选票。

In all but two states, whether they win by 1 percent or 20 percent, candidates still get the same number of Electoral College votes.

除了两个州之外，在其他州中，不管候选人赢得百分之一或百分之二十的选票，他们依然得到相同的选举团选票。

How the Electoral College affects campaigns

总统选举团如何影响竞选活动

The Electoral College system means that Donald Trump, the likely Republican candidate, and Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic candidate, will not campaign in states where they think they already know who will win.

选举团制度意味着,可能的共和党总统候选人唐纳德·特朗普和可能的民主党候选人希拉里·克林顿不会在他们认为他们已经知道谁会赢的州内进行竞选活动。

For example, Donald Trump will probably take Alaska, Idaho, and seven other states. Republicans presidential candidates there have won every election since 1968.

举个例子，唐纳德·特朗普很可能会赢得阿拉斯加州、爱达荷州和其他七个州的支持。因为自1968年以来，共和党总统候选人在这些州中都赢得了选举。

Hillary Clinton will probably carry Minnesota, New York, and the other six states that voted for every Democratic presidential candidate since 1988.

希拉里·克林顿可能会赢得明尼苏达州、纽约和其他六个州的支持。因为自1988年以来，这些州都为所有民主党总统候选人投票。

Norm Ornstein, the government and political expert at the American Enterprise Institute, said voting trends show only nine states with an uncertain winner in 2016: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.

政府和美国企业研究所的政治专家诺姆·奥恩斯坦说，据2016年的投票趋势显示，只有9个州出现不确定的赢家:科罗拉多、佛罗里达、爱荷华、内华达、新罕布什尔州、俄亥俄州、宾夕法尼亚州、维吉尼亚州和威斯康辛州。

None is more important than Ohio. That state has voted for every winning presidential candidate since 1964.

没有一个比俄核俄州重要。因为自1964年以来，这个州支持的总统候选人最终都胜出了。

As a result, Ohio receives a lot of attention.

因此，俄核俄州获得了很多的关注。

Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, a Democrat, has represented the Ohio city of Toledo since 1983. She talked about what it is like in Ohio a few weeks before a presidential election day.

国会女议员马尔西·卡普蒂尔自1983年以来就成为俄亥俄州托莱多市的代表。她向我们描述俄亥俄州在总统大选前几周是什么样的。

“We get a barrage of television ads, radio ads, phone calls, people knocking on our doors, and lots of people coming to our state from other parts of the country to campaign for their candidate,” Kaptur told VOA.

“我们接二连三地接到电视广告、广播广告和电话,人们敲我们的门,有很多来自国家其它地区的人来我们州为他们支持的候选人竞选，”Kaptur告诉美国之音。

David Cohen is a political science professor at the University of Akron. He and other researchers found that the 2012 presidential candidates visited Ohio more than any other state. But other states, including the largest, California and New York, get “almost completely ignored,” Cohen said.

大卫·科恩是阿克伦大学的政治学教授。他和其他研究人员发现,2012年的总统候选人访问俄亥俄州的次数比其他任何州都多。其他州,包括最大的加利福尼亚州和纽约“几乎完全被忽视了,”Cohen说。

The end of the Electoral College?

总统选举团会宣告终结吗？

Because campaigns treat the states so differently, some people argue to end the Electoral College. They want the U.S. to elect its president based on the candidate who earns the most votes across the country.

因为竞选对形成各个州的待遇很不一样，所以有些人认为应该结束选举团制度。他们希望美国根据在整个国家赢得最多选票的候选人为总统的方法来选举总统。

“Voters currently living and voting in a red (Republican) or blue (Democratic) state are disenfranchised, because their vote doesn't matter,” read a petition on the Moveon.org website.

“目前，居住在红色(共和党)或蓝色(民主)州并投票给对应党派候选人的选民被剥夺选举权，因为他们的选票并不重要。”这是Moveon.org网站上一篇请愿书上的话。

But changing the American system to a popular vote would require changing the U.S. Constitution. That process is not easy.

但是，把美国的选举制度改为普选需要改变美国的宪法。这个过程并不容易。

Norm Ornstein, the American Enterprise Institute expert, points out that changing to a popular vote would also take away a reason for candidates to campaign in smaller states.

美国企业研究所专家诺姆·奥恩斯坦指出,改成普选制度还会带走候选人到小州去竞选的理由。

And he worries that all 50 states would fight to recount their votes in a close election.

而且，他担心，当出现一场势均力敌的竞选时，50个州都会争取重新计票。

One such recount happened in Florida in 2000. The media first reported that Democrat Al Gore won the race there. Then, reporters said that Republican George W. Bush won. Later, they said the vote was too close to call.

2000年，弗洛里达州就发生了一次重新计票的事情。媒体首次报道称,民主党戈尔赢得了比赛。然后,记者说共和党人乔治·布什赢了。之后,他们说投票是势均力敌难分胜负。

Florida officials spent several weeks recounting the votes. The U.S. Supreme Court made a 5-4 decision to stop the recount.

弗洛里达州的官员花了几星期的时间重新计票。美国最高法院做了一个5 - 4的决定停止重新计票。

In the end, Florida's Electoral College votes went to Bush. Those votes were enough to give him the presidency over Democrat Gore, though Gore won 500,000 more votes nationally than Bush.

最终，佛罗里达州的选举团选票投给了布什。这些票是足以让他在战胜戈尔成为总统,尽管戈尔获得的全国选票比布什多了500000票。

The 2000 election was one of only four U.S. elections when the Electoral Vote did not match the popular vote. The other times happened in the 1800s.

2000年的总统选举是选举团选票与普选选票结果不同的四个美国选举中的一个。另外几次发生在十九世纪。

In one contest, neither candidate earned the required number of Electoral College votes. The House of Representatives chose the winner.

其中一次大选，两位候选人都没有获得所需数量的选举团选票。最终由众议院选择出赢家。

In the other two contests, one candidate was very popular with voters in a few states. But he lost to the candidate with more national appeal.

另外两次大选中，有一个候选人在几个州里非常受选民的欢迎。但是他输给了具有全国性号召力的候选人。

Words in This Story

shrinking – adj. smaller number

battleground – adj. states with very hard fought elections

barrage – n. a great amount of something that comes quickly and continuously

knock – v. to hit something (such as a door) with the knuckles of your hand or with a hard object

disenfranchise – v. to prevent a person or group of people from having the right to vote

petition – n. a written document that people sign to show that they want a person or organization to do or change something