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_VQ8I7g6I&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active

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