Post on 31-May-2020
transcript
What is the Electoral College
Simple way of thinking about it: The States Elect the President..
Even though we can tally up a national popular vote, there are really 50 separate
elections taking place through the Electoral College to decide our President (1 in
each state)
Check out this video on the electoral college
Basics of the Electoral College
Each State is given a certain number of electors based on its population
Number of electors the same as the number of representatives in Congress
(# of house representatives + # of senators)
Bigger the State = More electors (Proportional Representation)
Example – California electoral votes – 53 representatives + 2 sentators = 55 total
Example – Alaska electoral votes – 1 representative = 2 senators = 3 total
23rd Amendment gave Washington DC 3 electors (same as smallest state)
538 possible electoral votes currently – 535 in House/Senate plus 3 for
Washington DC = 538
Who are the Electors?
The way electors are chosen can vary by state.. But the Constitution provides for the following rules
Electors may not be current elected/appointed federal officials
Usually are trustworthy people who will vote with the wishes of the state, however no requirement that they have to do so
Electors are typically voted on during election day based on the presidential candidate being voted on (in most states)
Usually electors are preselected from each political party in the summer by state officials, then the electors from the winning party in the state’s popular election will be invited to the capital to officially vote for the state as an elector in December.
Basics of Electoral College
President needs to receive a majority of the electoral votes to win
Currently 270 votes required to be elected President (538 possible
electoral votes available)
In most states the candidate that wins the popular vote receives ALL
the electoral votes, only Maine and Nebraska split up electoral votes
Electors do NOT have to vote based on state results, but in all but a few
cases, have historically voted based on their state’s wishes
Step 4 – (Jan) US
Congress officially
counts the electoral
votes for President to
determine winner of
the election
Mock Election
• Candidate A. – Free Skittles for Everyone!
• Candidate B. – Free Kit Kats for Everyone!
Mock Election Electoral Votes
State/# of Electoral Votes Candidate Winning Election Popular Votes
1. 20
2. 16
3. 12
4. 9
5. 6
6 3
7. 14
Elecoral Vote: Popular Winner:
Why Create the Electoral College?
Some reasons why the Founding Fathers created the Electoral College
Give smaller states more voting power, so candidates can’t ignore smaller states (they have at least
3 electoral votes, which make them important to reaching 270!)
Candidate cannot just win all the big cities with large populations, but also must be successful in
rural areas and suburbs
Electors were educated and could make the best possible choice
The electors could make a different decision than the general population
Keep in mind much of the general population in 1790 didn’t have much information about candidates,
many lived without access to TV, Internet, and other sources of media
Logistically, very difficult to accurately determine a nationwide vote in 1790
Maintain Federalism – give each state the power to choose its electors and vote for who it wants to
be President
Negatives of the Electoral College
Some people believe the Electoral College system should be changed or abolished:
The Electoral College was partially created to allow Southern slave states to have equal voting
power to the North despite not allowing most of their population to vote
No longer relevant today, so some will argue it is an outdated system
The “winner take all” system means that candidates can lose the popular vote but still win the
electoral vote
People who live in a “safe state” where the Democrat or Republican always wins may feel like
their vote does not count, and thus won’t show up to vote.
The electors can change their votes and not vote the way the state wanted them to (faithless
electors)
Candidates may only focus on a few bigger “swing states” that can decide an election and
ignore the other “safe states” they know they will either win or lose regardless of campaign