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ELECTORAL COLLEGE

ELECTORAL COLLEGE. In formal terms, the President is chosen according to the provisions of the Constitution . In practice, however, the President is elected through an altogether extraordinary process that is not understood by most Americans. CONSTITUTIONAL Provisions.

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ELECTORAL COLLEGE

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  1. ELECTORAL COLLEGE In formal terms, the President is chosen according to the provisions of the Constitution . In practice, however, the President is elected through an altogether extraordinary process that is not understood by most Americans

  2. CONSTITUTIONALProvisions • Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or person holding an office of trust or profit, under the United States, shall be appointed an elector. (Article II section 2) • States number of electors is equal to the sum of senators and representatives • Each state has a minimum of 3 electoral votes. • Florida for example has 29 electoral votes • 27 representatives and 2 senators

  3. Electoral Map 2012

  4. According to the Constitution each of the electors were to each cast two votes, each for a different candidate. • The candidate with the most votes would become president and the one with the second most votes would become vice president. • If there was a tie or no one won a majority of the electoral votes the House of Representatives would chose the president (vote by state) • If a tie occurred for the vice president the senate would chose who it would be. • Why did the framers set up such a system? • What were the problems with this process? • Political parties (election of 1796 Adams Jefferson) • Bullet two from this slide (election of 1800)

  5. 12th Amendment • Amendment was added to the Constitution in 1804. • It separated the presidential and vice presidential elections • Each elector now casts one ballot for someone for president and a second ballot for another person to be vice president.

  6. ELECTORAL COLLEGE TODAY • There are 538 total votes in the electoral college • 435(HR) + 100 (S) + 3 (DC 23rd Amendment)= 538 • A candidate must receive 270 to be elected president. • 48 of the states have a winner take all system (Maine Nebraska) • The Constitution calls for the electors to meet in their respective states on the first Monday after the first Wednesday in December. • They each cast their votes • Their ballots are signed and sealed and sent by registered mail to the president of the Senate. • The formal election of the president and vice president takes place on January 6 • President of the Senate opens the electoral votes and counts them before a joint session of Congress. • If no one has the needed 270 the election goes to the House • If the House fails to choose a president by January 20th the newly elected Vice President shall act as president until a choice is made (20th Amendment) • If no one wins the majority of votes for the VP the Senate decides.

  7. CHOOSING ELECTORS • The Constitution gives each state the right to choose presidential electors. • Today all electors have been chosen by popular vote in every state • Winner-take-all • A slate of electors is pledged to each of the presidential tickets (electors names may or may not show up on the ballot) • The electors pledged to the presidential candidate who received the majority of the popular vote state-wide are chosen. • Individual Method • Individual electors are pledged to each of the presidential tickets • District Method • Two electors at large and one elector for each congressional district are pledged to each presidential ticket • At large electors pledged to the ticket having received the most votes state wide are chosen. • The elector pledged to the ticket having received the most votes within each district is chosen • Maine and Nebraska

  8. Flaws in the Electoral College • 1. Electors are not required to vote in accord with the popular vote. • No constitutional or federal law requires electors to vote the way the people in their state did • The electors are expected to vote for the candidate who carries the state and as loyal members of their parties they almost always do. • Electors have broken their pledges on 9 occasions but in no case has the faithless elector had a bearing on the outcome of the election. Why do they do it?

  9. 2. winner of the popular vote is not guaranteed to win the election. • Winner-take-all feature of the electoral college • Example in 2000 Bush won 49.99% of the popular vote in Ohio; Gore had about 2.3 million votes and Nader had 118,000 votes. Bush got all 21 electoral votes. Bush won the election with 271 electoral votes. • The way the electoral votes are distributed among the state. (each state has at least 3) • Electoral votes are not distributed based on population that is the allotment of electoral votes does not match the facts of population and voter distribution. • 2000 California had 55 electoral votes and Wyoming had 3 votes • In California that is one vote for every 615,848 while in Wyoming that is one vote for every 164,594. • The winner of the popular vote has not won the presidency four times 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000. • Altogether 15 presidents have won election without winning the majority of the electoral vote 11 of them did win a plurality not a majority.

  10. 3. Election might have to be decided in the House of Representatives. • 1. voting in such cases is by state, not individual members. A state with a small population would have as much weight as the most populous state. • 2. if representatives from a state were so divided that no candidate was favored by a majority, the state would lose its vote. • 3. Constitution requires a majority of the states for election in the House (26) If there is a strong third party candidate there would be a real chance that the House could not decide the election before Inauguration Day.

  11. Proposed Reforms • 1. Proportional Plan • Each presidential candidate would get the same share of the state’s electoral vote as they received in the popular vote. • What are the issues with this plan? • 2. Direct Popular Election • Smaller states • Amendment process • Weaken the federal system • Campaign time • fraud

  12. 3. National Bonus Plan • Keep the electoral college intact, especially its winner takes all feature. It would weight this feature in favor of the winner of the popular vote. • National pool of 102 electoral votes would be given to the winner of the popular vote which would be added to the electoral votes that the candidate got.

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