2.11 Electoral College Lesson

2.11 Electoral College Lesson

Modified from an article by Zachary B. Wolf, CNN

Updated 9:21 PM ET, Tue November 3, 2020

Poll

In 2028, you will be old enough to vote in your first Presidential election... will you vote?

• YES - I will vote.

• NO - I will not vote.

• Maybe - depends on who is running.

What is the Electoral College?

Every four years, Americans vote on the first Tuesday of November for President. However, they are technically voting for 538 electors who, according to the system laid out by the Constitution, meet in their respective states and vote for President and Vice President. These people, the electors, comprise the Electoral College, and their votes are then counted by the President of the Senate in a joint session of Congress.

Why does the Electoral College Exist?

Why did the framers choose this system? There are a few reasons: First, they feared factions and worried that voters wouldn't make informed decisions. They didn't want to tell states how to conduct their elections. There were also many who feared that the states with the largest voting populations would essentially end up choosing the President. Others preferred the idea of Congress choosing the President, and there were proposals at the time for a national popular vote. The Electoral College was a compromise.

Multiple Choice

What is the electoral college?

• A school that helps pick the president

• A group that can impeach a president

• A system for picking the president through voting

How it Works?

There's an elector for every member of the House of Representatives (435) and Senate (100), plus an additional three for people who live in the District of Columbia. Each state gets at least 3 electors. There are 538 electors in total. California, the most populous state, has 53 congressmen and two senators, so they get 55 electoral votes.Texas, the largest reliably Republican-leaning state, has 36 congressmen and two senators, so they get 38 electoral votes.

Multiple Choice

Illinois has 18 representatives in the House. Illinois also has 2 senators in the Senate. How many electoral votes does Illinois get?

• 18

• 20

• 16

• 22

How it Works? (2)

Six states -- Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming -- are so small, population-wise, that they only have one congressperson apiece, and the lowest possible three electoral votes. The District of Columbia also gets three electoral votes.

Multiple Choice

If you were running for President, which of these states would you want to win for the most amount of electoral votes?

• Alaska

• Texas

• California

• Rhode Island

How it Works? (3)

It takes 270 electoral votes to get a majority of the Electoral College. The total number of electors -- 538 -- cannot change unless there are more lawmakers added on Capitol Hill or a constitutional amendment.

Popular Vote VS Electoral Votes

• Popular vote means how many people overall voted for a candidate.

• The popular vote only determines who wins in a state, it does not actually count towards the presidential vote

• Electoral votes for a state are given to the candidate who wins the POPULAR vote in each state.

Multiple Choice

How many electoral votes are needed to win the presidency?

• 200 votes

• 270 votes

• 435 votes

• 538 votes

Multiple Choice

Illinois has 12 million people and 20 electoral votes. Candidate Mailhiot earns 6.1 million popular votes in Illinois. Candidate Gauna earns 5.9 million popular votes. How many electoral votes does Gauna receive from Illinois?

• 10 electoral votes

• 20 electoral votes

• 0 electoral votes

REVIEW

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS IN THE TIME ALLOWED

Multiple Choice

Why was the Electoral College created?

• As a compromise to split the power of picking the President between the people and electors.

• To make the process easier and simpler for everyone.

• As a compromise so that Congress would have more power when picking the President.

• To make sure there were no ties or problems when picking Presidents from small states.

Open Ended

How do we determine how many electors each state receives in an election for President?

Multiple Choice

How does a candidate win the electoral votes in a state?

• The candidates that wins majority popular vote in state receives all of that state's electoral votes.

• The candidates receives the same amount of electoral votes as they have popular votes.

• Popular vote does not matter at all. Only candidates with electoral votes from each state wins.

• Candidates receive a fair percentage of electoral votes in a state based on how many popular votes they received.

Open Ended

Do you agree with the Electoral College System? Why or why not?