NOVEMBER 15 — Although the Trump camp has opened the champagne bottle in jubilation and Clinton’s supporters have recovered from their early grief, up till Sunday the vote count was still on-going and Clinton’s majority popular votes were rising.

Latest figures suggest that Clinton managed to pull 60,839,922 votes, over half a million votes more than Trumps’ 60,265,858.

According to analysis, Clinton’s final vote count will likely be two million more than her Republican rival, equivalent to about 1.5 per cent of all votes.

For Hillary Clinton, this will at least give her a spiritual triumph, as she has more supporters than the president-elect himself.

As Clinton’s supporters have claimed: Americans have chosen Clinton, but the nation’s electoral system has sided Trump.

There is always a set of rules and regulations to conform to in any election. It is undeniable that Trump is the ultimate victor under the existing electoral system, and to rectify this phenomenon whereby a candidate wins the popular vote but loses the electoral vote, it is imperative that the United States rethink and review the system.

The American electoral system is a product of the nation’s history, the eventuality from tussles and compromises among the states. That said, history belongs to era past and we need to forge ahead in tandem with the rapidly changing world. What came as reasonable and logical two centuries ago may not fit into today’s social fabric.

Even up to this very minute, the essence of any democratic election is its ability to reflect the views of majority of people, allowing the most popular party or candidate to take the country’s helm.

Apparently America’s electoral system has failed to satisfy this prerequisite.

When the electoral system overrides public consensus, even though the legality of the elected candidate is beyond question, the legitimacy and authority of the same would instantly come under public query, triggering new conflicts and new divisions.

This phenomenon is no stranger to us here in Malaysia. In the 2013 general elections, Pakatan Rakyat clinched 51 per cent of popular votes but could only bag 40 per cent of all parliamentary seats. The failure of majority support to claim victory has since created frustration and antagonism among the supporters of the losing side.

As such, the electoral systems of both the United States and Malaysia must be revamped in order to better reflect the voting pattern of majority of people.

Malaysia’s questionable redelineation exercise has been in existence for some time and must be reversed as soon as possible towards the ultimate goal of "one man one vote”.

The victorious party will only be able to lead the country more effectively and legitimately if the electoral system has accurately reflected the voter preference. More importantly, this will help remedy any division created during the campaign period to prevent a further split of the nation.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.