The Electoral College Process
Why an Electoral College?
• The Founding Fathers felt an EC was
necessary for a few reasons:
• First, they questioned whether the
electorate was capable of selecting an
adequate leader for the nation if the
people chose the “wrong” President, the
EC could override the vote.
Why an Electoral College?
• Second, voters had very little knowledge of
candidates outside of their local area or
state voting was based primarily on
REGION
Step 1: Popular Vote
• On election day, voters choose who they
want to be President & Vice President
• What we’re actually choosing are
ELECTORS who represent the political
party of the candidate we like
• These electors are then supposed to vote
for the candidate that wins the popular
vote in a given state
Step 2: “Winner Take All”
• The EC system is “winner take all.”
• That is, the candidate with the most
popular votes gets ALL of the electoral
votes (except in Maine and Nebraska
where the electoral votes can be divided)
Step 3: Counting the Votes
• The electors then meet in
the State capitol to cast
votes for the candidate
they represent (Monday
after the 2nd Wednesday
in December).
• Those votes are then sent
to the president of the
Senate in DC
• The president of the
Senate counts the votes
on January 6 (this is done
before Congress)
Step 3a: What if There Is A Tie (or if
no one wins)?
• If no Presidential candidate gets 270
electoral votes, the US House of
Representatives takes a vote to
determine the winner (this happened in
1800 & 1824)
• If no Vice Presidential candidates
receives enough votes to win, the
Senate takes a vote to decide who the
winner is (this happened in 1837).
http://www.senate.gov/artandhist
ory/history/minute/The_Senate_E
lects_A_Vice_President.htm
Richard M Johnson
Flaws of the Electoral College
#1: It’s possible to win the popular
vote but lose the electoral vote
• 1824 Andrew Jackson (41.3% of the
popular votes, John Quincy Adams 30.9%
of the popular vote)
– Jackson received 99 of 261 electoral votes
more than any other candidate but not
enough to win
1876
• Samuel J. Tilden
– 4,288,546 popular votes
– 184 electoral votes
• Rutherford B Hayes
– 4,034,311 popular votes
– 185 electoral votes
1888
• Grover Cleveland
– 5,534,488 popular votes
– 168 electoral votes
• Benjamin Harrison
– 5,443,892 popular votes
– 233 electoral votes
2000
• Al Gore
– 50,992,335 popular votes
– 266 electoral votes
• George W Bush
– 50,455,156 (537,179 votes
less)
– 271 electoral votes
• Florida was decided by
only 537 votes!
#2: Electors Don’t Have to Do What
We Tell Them To
• Electors have refused to vote for their party’s nominee
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
1796
1820
1948
1956
1960
1968
1972
1976
1988
2000
2004 an elector from MN voted for John Edwards (twice, Pres
& VP)
#3: The contest could be decided
by the House
• Problem: The voting is not done by
members of the House but by state.
• Why is that a problem?
• A state could lose its votes if no candidate
received a majority
• If a 3rd party candidate were involved, the
vote could be divided and no one would
be declared winner by January 20