The Electoral College

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The Electoral College

• The process of electing the President of the
  United States.

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How it Works
Each state has a number of electors equal to the
number of U.S. representatives. Ex Ohio has 18
members in the House of Representative plus 2 in
the Senate. 182 20 electoral votes. This
guarantees that every state will have at least
three electoral votes.
Article II, section 1 of the Constitution sets
this up. Voters vote for electors. These
electoral college members then cast their votes
for candidates. Usually the delegate will vote
according to the popular vote but they do not
necessarily have to.
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Electoral_Colleg
eFaithless_electors
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Different Methods Used
Most states use the winner takes all method.
Meaning whoever wins the popular vote in a state
will receive all electoral votes from that state.
Ex Bush won 51 of the popular vote in Ohio.
Kerry received 49 of the vote. Since Bush
received a majority he received all 20 electoral
votes.
Maine and Nebraska allot their electors to
specific areas of the state. If one area votes
different from another area than the electoral
votes will be divided accordingly. Ex Maine
has four electoral votes. If lets say the
southern region votes pro Kerry and the northern
district votes pro Bush then each candidate would
receive two electoral votes.
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Winning the Election

• In order to win the election a candidate must
  receive at least 270 out of 538 electoral votes
  today. If no candidate receives at least 270 then
  the House of Representatives decides.
• Popular vote does not matter, although in most
  cases the candidate who wins the popular vote
  does win the electoral college.
• Exceptions
• 1824 John Quincy Adams
• 1876 Rutherford B. Hayes
• 1888 Benjamin Harrison
• 2000 George W. Bush (poor Al?)

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CONFUSED YET????, GOOD!That must be what our
founders intended. Why would you want dumb
people to be choosing our leaders??
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THE PROCESS OF ELECTING THE PRESIDENT
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Pros and Cons of the Electoral College

• PROS
• The Electoral College is deeply rooted in
  federalist principles that founded our country.
  As a republic, we were not meant to have direct
  majority rule.
• The electoral system forces candidates to
  campaign in all states, thus ensuring that
  smaller states are not ignored.
• Direct voting could make the system even more
  confusing. With direct voting, close elections
  could lead to national recounts as opposed to
  limited state recounts.

• CONS
• Majority rule is denied through the indirect
  voting method of the Electoral College.
• Smaller states get extra clout over larger
  states.
• The Electoral College does not allow people to
  feel that they have elected a president.
  Therefore, the importance of voting is
  diminished.

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Proposed Electoral Reform
Pp. 382-384 Provide a detailed summary of each
plan.
DISTRICT PLAN PROPORTIONAL PLAN DIRECT
POPULAR ELECTION NATIONAL BONUS PLAN
RAGU Which plan do you like? Why?