Transcript Ch 1: Principles of U.S. Government

The Electoral College
Why was it created and how does
it work?
What is the Electoral College?
• Watch short video overview: The Electoral
College in plain English
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ok_VQ8
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Who elects the President in the
U.S.?
• In the U.S., voters don’t directly elect the
President
• Electors officially choose the president
• States determine who the electors are
• The Founders wanted remove selection of
the President from the people…
• Why?
Activity: Electoral College
FAQ’s
• Find a partner
• Research ONE of the questions assigned
by the teacher #1-6)
• Prepare a written response
• Create a poster that lists the key
information needed to answer the question
– Poster should read like a chart
– Be accurate, clear and concise
1. Why not direct election by the
people?
• They feared the majority
• Information about candidates outside their
state was limited; difficult to find out about
a good leader from another region
– This would prevent anyone from gaining a
majority of votes OR
– Could make it so the largest, most populous
states would always decide the presidency
1. Why not Congress or state legislatures
choose the President?
• Congress: Didn’t want Congress and the
Federal government to have more/too
much power;
– Wanted a separation of branches/powers
• State Legislatures: States would each pick
their local favorites and no candidate
would win a majority of votes
2. How many electors?
(a) Each state gets the number of electors equal to
the number of its U.S. Senators (always 2) plus
the number of its U.S. Representatives in the
House (Washington D.C. gets 3)
• In Oregon, it’s 7 (2 + 5 House members)
(b) 538 is the total (100 + 435 + 3 for D.C.)
(c) An absolute majority or 270 / 538 is the number
required to win office
(d) If no one gets 270 or more votes, the race goes
to the House of Representatives to choose the
president from the top three contenders.
3. Which state is most over represented?
Which is most under represented?
• Every state is guaranteed THREE
electoral votes
• Proportionately, this favors states with
smaller populations because larger states
are much larger
• Most overrepresented: Wyoming (least
populous)
• Most underrepresented: California
4. Who are the electors in the Electoral
College? How are they chosen?
• Electors are chosen by each state
according to each state’s laws
• They are generally political insiders and
are NOT elected by the voters
5. Winner take all
(a) The candidate who wins the most
popular votes in each state, wins all of the
state’s electoral votes.
(b) Maine and Nebraska split the state’s
electoral votes by district so it is possible
to split electoral votes by candidate
depending on his/her performance in each
of the state’s districts
6. Which states are most important in
winning the Electoral College?
• The most populous states have the most
electoral votes
• Swing states or battleground states are
most important for candidates to win;
these states are fairly evenly split between
Democrats and Republicans
• Ohio, Florida, Missouri, Colorado,
Nevada…others
7. How can winner of the
popular vote lose the election?
• In 2000, Gore won the popular vote nationwide
but lost in the Electoral College
• In a close election, the Electoral College favors
the candidate who wins more states because
rural/small states have proportionately more say
than large states.
• Gore won big in the most populous states but
won fewer total states.
• Bush won more states overall and most all of the
small/rural states.
8. Weaknesses
1 The winner of the popular election can
lose in the electoral college (Four times)
2 No laws require an elector to vote as a
reflection of his/her state’s popular vote
3 If no candidate receives an absolute
majority of electoral votes (270), the race
is sent to the House of Representatives
(has happened twice)
4 Small states are overrepresented
8. Strengths
1 Requires a regional distribution of popular
support to be elected president
2 Contributes to political stability by
reinforcing a two-party system and
determining a winner quickly in a close
election
3 Maintains a federal system of government
and representation
9. Reforms: Maine-Nebraska
Method
• Votes would be calculated by
congressional district NOT statewide
• Electoral votes would go to the winner in
each district so a split of votes is possible
• The winner of the state’s popular vote
would receive the two additional electoral
votes (the at-large Senator votes)
• Would reflect popular vote more closely
9. Reforms: Proportional
• Each candidate would receive the same
share of the state’s electoral vote as s/he
received of its popular vote
• Would split up electoral votes to reflect
popular vote more closely
• Example: Oregon
Popular Vote: McCain 52% & Obama 47%
Electoral Vote: McCain=4
Obama=3
9. Reforms: Drop Two
• Each state’s electoral vote total is merely
the # of Representatives in the House
NOT the Senators (drop 2 electoral votes)
• Is an attempt to end the advantage of
small states in the system
9. Reforms: Interstate
Compact
• States would replace Electoral College
with direct popular election
• Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland and New Jersey
have joined
• Need to get more states to join to make
the switch; would need 270 votes to force
other states to join