Warm-up:

1. Warm-up: Answer the following question on your warm-up page. How many times have your parents voted for the president?

2. Review Homework • Flip chart

3. The Electoral College Electing a President Read pages 241-244 in the textbook

4. Presidential Primaries Primaries are like the semi- finals in a tournament… The purpose of primaries is to select a candidate for a political party to compete against the other party’s candidate in the General Election (championship game)

5. Do both Parties have primaries? • Sometimes yes, sometimes no! • When one Party has a president sitting in office and he is running for re-election, that party does not have primaries. • If a president is finishing his second term, both parties will have several candidatestrying to become their Party’s nominee to run for president.

6. Democrats Republicans

7. Current Primaries: Who would you vote for?

9. General Election Day: the first Tuesdayafter the first Monday in November On this day our elected representatives are elected by a direct popular vote which means; • The people (electorate) mark their ballots for a candidate on Election Day. • The candidate that receives the majority of the votes (popular vote) wins the election.

10. EXCEPT: Presidential Elections • The Framers of the Constitution decided that electing the President would be different. They created the Electoral College. • It is a process to select the president and vice president of the US.

11. Why????? • Feared ignorance and apathy of the people. • However, • more people vote in presidential elections than in state or local elections.

12. How the Electoral College Works Prior to the General Election, 1) A slate of electors for each state is chosen byPopular vote The number of electors each state gets is based on the state’s total congressional representation. This means the total number of Senators each state has (2) plus the number of members in the House (based on the state’s population)

13. The Electors

14. When do electors vote? 2) After General Election Day, the electors • meet to cast their electoral vote for the president and vice president based on the popular vote winner in their state NOTE: Since the Electoral College is a process, not a building, the electors meet in their state’s capital and send the ballots to Congress. Congress counts the votes. School House Rock Video • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyIFqf3XH24&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active

15. Which candidate won the lowest percentage of the popular vote yet won the electoral vote to become president?

16. 3. The Electoral College is a winner-take-all system which means • Usually the candidate that wins the popular vote in each state gets all of the state’s electoral votes

17. A candidate must win a majority of the electoral votes The Magic Number is  http://www.270towin.com/ Winning the Electoral College However, the electors are NOT the same people who are in Congress

18. How is the total of 538 Electoral College votes determined? What is the purpose of the popular vote in the Electoral College system? Total number electors is one elector for each senator and representative in every state, plus three for the District of Columbia. The winner of the state’s popular vote receives all the state’s electors. Section 2-19

20. You would think that presidential candidates would only focus on the larger states that have more electoral votes. However, the candidates must also pay attention to • The smaller states which can become important when their electoral votes may make the difference in close elections

21. Election 2000 Click the Speaker button to replay the audio. Section 2-3

22. 2000 Election George Bush Popular Vote 50,461,092 Electoral Vote 271 Al Gore Popular Vote 50,994,086 Electoral Vote 266

23. 2000 Election: In which states did each party get a majority? How does that affect campaigns?

24. Senator Durbin Section 2-3

25. The requirement for a majority vote to win the Electoral College favors a • two party political system • because third parties cannot win enough popular votes in order to get the electoral votes.

26. Review Time! • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaMhTQPy9eE&feature=related&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active

27. General Election Day: cont. the first Tuesdayafter the first Monday in November

28. If you were running for President, which states would you want to win?

29. States that are always competitive among candidates: • California 55 votes • New York 33 votes • Texas 32 votes • Florida 25 votes • Pennsylvania 23 votes • Illinois 22 votes • Ohio 21 votes

30. Electoral College Trivia • Does winning the popular vote always mean you become president? • NO- winning the popular vote does not always mean you will reach the magic number of • 270 What happens if no candidate receives a majority of the electoral votes? The House of Reps votes • Has this ever happened? Yes, in 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000

31.   Inauguration Day    January 20th

32. Electoral College Review Electoral Vote Popular Vote

33. HOMEWORK • Color in the US map according to instructions.