DAVENPORT, Iowa-- Some experts are already calling the November presidential election one of the most critical in U.S. history.
The Iowa caucuses are just days behind us, and political science professors and those on the campaign trail are expecting high voter turnout in November.
Yet so many eligible Americans, about a third of them, won't vote. News 8 investigated why people stay away from the polls and why that matters.
College students in particular are a demographic that notoriously shows up to vote in small numbers.
"A lot of them (the candidates) are promising the same things and they're promising much different things," a St. Ambrose University student said.
"Personally, I'm not too fond of any of them," another told us. "But there might be some that I just don't want them in office."
A lot of people feel the same way
Of the people who didn't vote in 2016, a quarter of them said they didn't like any of the candidates. So if they had voted, it would have been like picking the lesser of two evils instead of voting for a candidate they really liked.
It's not just young people who are turned off voting
"Is it alienation? Is it disgust? Is it frustration with the choices?" Dr. Jay Pearce, a political science professor at Black Hawk College questions.
Dr. Pearce has been studying and teaching politics for decades. He said he's never seen Americans more upset with the country's political system than they are now, largely due to elections in 2016.
"It's very hard for me to sell, 'We're a democracy,' if the majority can't win," he said.
In 2016, for just the fifth time in U.S. history, Hilary Clinton won the popular vote of the population but lost the election. Most people voted for Clinton and she ultimately won the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes. However, President Donald Trump won more districts and states thus winning more votes in the electoral college and winning the election.
Click here for a closer look at what the Electoral College is and how it works.
Dr. Pearce said these results made many people feel like their vote doesn't count.
"I absolutely understand people who are starting to give up and become so politically alienated and saying, 'What's the point?'" he said. "I have grave concerns about 2020 and what could happen because of our electoral college."
Dr. Pearce says if the candidates who win the majority of voters don't win the election in November it could turn even more people off from voting. Many people believe that's bad for democracy.
There have been countless discussions over the years on changing how electoral college votes are won. Some want to do away with the system altogether. Others feel it was created by our Founder Fathers for a reason and should remain intact as is.
However, Dr. Pearce says people could have their faith renewed in the system if the candidate with the majority of voters wins the electoral college, regardless of political party.
A look at the Electoral College
There's been a push by some voters to get rid of the Electoral College but there haven't been any concrete steps in recent years to make real change.
The Electoral College mirrors the number of U.S. Members of Congress each state has. So a vote for each representative in the House and the Senate. Iowa has six; Illinois has 20.
Most states use a winner-take-all system.
For example, in Iowa, whoever gets the most votes gets all the Electoral College votes. So if a presidential candidate only gets 51 percent of the popular vote, they get 100 percent of the Electoral College votes. That's how a candidate can lose the popular vote but still win the Electoral College.
Maine and Nebraska are the only states that use proportional representation.
Candidates get an Electoral College vote for each district they win, which mirrors the number of House of Representatives. The overall winner in the state gets an additional two votes, mirroring the two Senators each state gets.
To change this system, a constitutional amendment is needed.