The popular vote has no relevance to the electoral college or the electoral process . In the same sense , the coming administration has perfect legitimacy because it won the only vote that matters . What they could be said to lack is a mandate , i . e . they don ' t have a ton of political capital out of the starting gate contrast Obama ' 08 vs Obama ' 12 . The important thing to consider when making arguments about ' the popular vote should decide ' is that the result of the popular vote is determined by the acknowledgement by all voters that the electoral college will decide . To be more clear , there are likely many Republican voters in California that didn ' t vote or voted third party knowing their topticket vote would have no impact . Likewise , some Democratic voters in Texas likely voted third party or not at all . Legitimacy is derived from all parties agreeing before the fact on the process , and then after the fact when the losing party concedes .