Electing a President The Electoral College
The Original Electoral College System Compromise between allowing Congress to choose a chief executive and direct popular election -Allowing Congress goes against separation of powers -Fear of whims of the people Why was the Electoral College the system of choice? The real reason was because in the 1700 s there was no good way to conduct a national campaign Reasons why?
The Original Electoral College System Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution provided that the candidate receiving the majority of the electoral votes became the president and the person who received the second most votes became the vice president
The Original Electoral College System Problems with the system: 1. Election of 1796 2. Election of 1800
The Original Electoral College System The 12 th Amendment (1804) provided that electors must cast separate ballots for president and vice president The 12 th Amendment also states that if no candidate earns a majority of electoral votes the House of Representatives chooses from the top three popular vote getting candidates and the Senate chooses the top two candidates for vice president
How the House Chooses a President 1. States with small populations have just as much say as states with large populations (one state one vote; 26 states needed to win the election). 2. If a majority of state representatives cannot agree on a candidate the state loses its vote. 3. If states vote for the third party candidate it may make it difficult for any candidate to receive the 26 votes needed to win
How the Electoral College Works 1. Each state chooses electors equal to the number of Senators plus number of Representatives it has 2. Each state s party selects a separate Democratic and Republican slate of Electoral College delegates 3. 538 total electoral votes currently; 270 needed to secure a majority 4. D.C. has 3 electoral votes (23 rd Amendment) but if the election goes to the House it is not represented with a vote 5. A state s electoral votes total may change every ten years based on U.S. census count
How the Electoral College Works See drawing Tuesday after the first Monday in November: Voters cast ballots for a slate of electors pledged to a particular presidential candidate Monday after second Wednesday in December: Winning electors in each state meet at their state capital to cast their votes for president and vice president January 6: Congress counts electoral votes January 20: The candidate receiving the majority of electoral votes is sworn in as the president
The Electoral College System & Presidential Campaign Winner-take-all system (except Maine & Nebraska) Campaign strategy: Red, Blue, Swing states- where to spend time/money Issues to address (big state v small state, red state v blue state) Choice of VP (balance ticket) Limits third parties Why not abolish the Electoral College Helps secure the magical 270 majority Collectively benefits small states, special interests, & minorities Abolishing/altering would require a constitutional amendment Are the alternatives better?
Fiascos in the Electoral College Four times in our nation s history has a candidate lost the popular vote but won the presidency in the Electoral College. 1. J.Q. Adams v. A. Jackson, H. Clay, and W.Crawford (1824) 2. R.B. Hayes v. S. Tilden (1876) 3. B. Harrison v. G. Cleveland (1888) 4. G.W. Bush v. A. Gore (2000) How is this so? A candidate can win states with a large number of electoral votes by a slim margin of popular votes and lose smaller states by a wide margin of popular votes
The Electoral College Method Positive Aspects Negative Aspects Winner take all system
Method Direct Popular Election Suggested Reforms to the Electoral College Positive Aspects Negative Aspects
Method Suggested Reforms to the Electoral College Positive Aspects Negative Aspects Congressional District Plan (Maine and Nebraska method)
Suggested Reforms to the Electoral College Method Positive Aspects Negative Aspects Proportional Representation
Suggested Reforms to the Electoral College Method Positive Aspects Negative Aspects Direct popular vote election with instant runoff voting Rank candidates as opposed to just voting for one. Run-off until a majority is reached.
2012 Electoral Map Cartograms 11 states needed to win 270 CA, TX, FL, NY, PA, IL, OH, MI, GA, NC, NJ 2008 Election Cartogram Results
Writing prompt: What is the significance of the Electoral College in the campaign strategies of presidential candidates?
Suggested Reforms to the Electoral College Method Positive Aspects Negative Aspects National bonus plan (Keep EC as is but award 102 bonus EC votes for nation-wide popular vote winner)