Electoral College Process

The Electoral College Process

Why was the electoral college created, and does it still accurately represent voters today?

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​Essential Question

Open Ended

If you could design how we elect the president, what would it look like?

• Made up of 538 electors

• 538 is made up of the number of representatives and senators in the United States

​The Who

• The process of how the next president of the United States is chosen

• Need 270 electoral college votes (or points) to win the presidency

​The What

Deep Dive on the Electoral College

• Used in all 50 states and Washington D.C.

​The Where

• Only used during presidential elections

​The When

Deep Dive on the Electoral College

• Individual votes influencing the electors' votes and the awarding of points

• Most states use a "winner-takes-all" set-up.

The How

• Created by the Founding Fathers as a compromise between election by Congress and direct popular vote

• Concern that the people would elect a candidate not acting in the best interest of the states

The Why

Deep Dive on the Electoral College

Multiple Choice

Why was the electoral college created?

• To allow Congress to choose the president directly

• As a compromise between Congress choosing the President and a direct citizen vote

• To ensure that only wealthy landowners could vote for the president

• To give states with smaller populations more voting power than larger states

Multiple Choice

How does a presidential candidate win the electoral votes for a state?

• By winning the majority of votes in the largest cities within the state

• By winning the majority of the national popular vote

• By winning the popular vote for that state

• Electoral Vote:

  • Gore: 266

  • Bush: 271

• Popular Vote:

  • Gore: 50,999,897

  • Bush: 50,456,062

​Gore v. Bush (2000)

• Electoral Vote:

  • Clinton: 227

  • Trump: 304

• Popular Vote:

  • Clinton: 65,853,514

  • Trump: 62,984,828

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​Clinton v. Trump (2016)

Pros and Cons of the Electoral College

• Gives too much power to the swing states

• Increased the power of slaveholding states in presidential elections by counting enslaved people in the population without allowing them to vote.

• Despite having over 337 million people, only 538 electors choose the president, which allows a candidate to lose the popular vote yet still win.

cons

• Makes sure that all parts of the country are involved

• Makes sure smaller groups aren't drowned out by bigger groups

• Helps avoid vote recounts or extra elections

Pros

Poll

Think back to the pros and cons of the electoral college. Do you think the electoral college should continue to be used, should we amend the electoral college system, or should we scrap it altogether?

• Keep using the system

• Amend the system

• Scrap the system