What You Need to Know About the Electoral College:
1.
What do the people really vote for on election day ?
on election day (Tues, after 1st Monday in Nov) we select groups of electors (w/i each state) who choose the president
When is the President really elected ? around the middle of December (see #6)
2.
How many electors does each state get ?
the same NUMBER as Congressmen (Senators plus Representatives)
TX - 38 (36 Reps + 2 Sen)
3.
How many electoral votes are needed to get elected ? (Out of how many total?)
4.
How is the job of the electors today different from what the Framers of the Constitution intended ?
simple majority -- 270 out of 538
(today they are referred to as “rubber stamps”)
original
they would vote for TWO people-- those they thought were MOST qualified
most votes= President, runner-up = VP
5.
(CA -- 55 .... 53+2)
today
they vote strictly by PARTY
Once the popular vote is held, what determines how many electors each party(candidate) gets per state ?
the winner of the state popular vote gets ALL of that state's electors (so there are actually are TWO sets of electors-- 1 set per party)
but only ONE set will vote
second place gets NO electors
***Except Nebraska (5) and Maine (4) -- they use a District Plan
6.
Do voters know who they are selecting as electors ? Explain.
No- we just see the names of the candidates (and their VP running mates) -- except for a select few states w/ few electors
7.
Where is it specified regarding when & where the electors meet ?
When and where do they meet ?
in the 12th Amendment
in their respective state capitals on the Monday after the 2nd Wed in December
8.
When/how are the electoral votes counted ?
in a joint session of Congress on JAN 6 -- results are certified by the President of the Senate (VP)
Why is this significant ? that's when the elections results become official
9.
If no candidate gets a majority of electoral votes, what happens ?
House of Representatives chooses the Pres. (if no VP-- Senate chooses)
10.
What does the 20th Amendment say regarding presidential elections ?
if no Pres chosen by Jan 20 (Inauguration Day) -- newly elected VP serves as acting Pres until one is chosen
--- if neither is chosen, Speaker of the House serves until one of them is
11.
How many times has Congress had to choose a Pres. (& Vice-Pres.) ?
Pres -- 2 times
1800 - T. Jefferson
1824 - John Quincy Adams
VP -- 1 time -- 1837 -- Richard M. Johnson (by Senate)
12.
List the 3 major criticisms of our electoral system:
1. winner of the national popular can lose the electoral college vote (4 times- 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000)
2. electors are not legally required to vote according to their state's popular vote (9 electors have done this in history)
3. in any given election the 435 member House might end up choosing the Pres for 310 million people
 What are the two factors that contribute to the first problem ?
--the distribution of electoral votes by state (somewhat based on population)
--win 11 biggest states -- get 270 electoral votes
**theoretically -- wouldn't have to get a single electoral (or popular) vote in the other 39 states
(CA-55, TX-38, NY-29, FL-29, PA-20, IL-20, OH-18, MI-16, GA-16, NJ-14, NC-15)
 think of the implications on campaigning -- focus on the larger SWING states
List the numbers to show how this played a role in the 2000 presidential election in FLORIDA:
National Popular Vote
BUSH- 50,455,156
GORE- 50,992,335 (+537,179)
Florida Popular Vote
Bush- 2,912,790 -- 48.85%
Gore- 2,912,253 -- 48.84%
Nader97,488 -- 1.63%
Electoral College
271
266 ???
** 1 electoral vote uncast
Electoral Result (FL- 25 electoral votes in 2000)
25
0
if Gore had won Florida-- electoral vote would have been Gore 291, Bush 246
0
 Did the second problem have an effect on the outcome of the 2000 election ?
no-- the uncast vote would have been for Gore, but Bush already had 271-- more than needed
 What are the 3 major concerns regarding the third problem ?
a. voting in the House is by state, not individual reps. --small states have equal weight to large states
WY-- 450,000 people - 1 vote
CA-- 35+ million- 1 vote
b. if state's reps cannot agree-- then the state does not cast a vote-- need 26 votes out of 50 to win
c. if problem #b. is widespread or there's perhaps a strong 3rd party candidate --may not have a winner by Jan 20
13.
Explain each of the proposed plans to “fix” the electoral system, and the potential problems with each “fix”:
District Plan
votes are awarded by District (like Maine/Neb) ***2 extras go to state winner
possible for second place to get some electoral votes
Proportional Plan
votes are awarded based on percentage of state popular vote
possible for second place to get some electoral votes
**problems with District & Proportional Plans -- still possible to win NATIONAL popular vote & LOSE electoral vote
National Bonus Plan
use the current winner-take-all system,
BUT would add 102 Bonus electoral votes to NATIONAL popular vote winner
total of 640 electoral votes -- need 321 to win
**problem with Bonus plan -- relatively new idea --no one really seems interested in it as yet
Direct Popular Election winner of the national popular vote would become President
** problem -- it's UNconstitutional -- would need an amendment
also-- many smaller states like the extra "clout" they seem to get in the current system
National Popular Vote Interstate Compact NEWEST (& most promising)
various states & DC pledge to award their electoral votes to the national popular vote winner, rather than the
winner of their state.
It will go into effect once states totaling 270 electoral votes have approved it
(it would ONLY apply to those states which approved it)
As of April 201610 states totaling 165 electoral votes have passed it
another 9 states w/ 104 electoral votes have bills pending
the remaining 31 states (269 EV) have no action pending
14.
What do supporters of the electoral system say in its defense ?
the (perceived) problems are somewhat exaggerated
--only twice had House had to choose Pres, and not in over 180 yrs
--national popular winner has only lost electoral vote 4 times, and until 2000, not in over 100 yrs (112 yrs)
15.
According to its supporters, what are the electoral system’s two major strengths ?
it's a known process-- convoluted, yes, but we know how it works & what its quirks are -- other plans might be worse
in almost every given election (with rare exceptions, like 2000), the winner is immediately known (within 24 hrs)