Electoral College Video

What is the primary function of the Electoral College?

• To formally elect the President and Vice President.

• To conduct the U.S. Census every 10 years

• To determine the total membership of the U.S. Congress

• To debate and approve new constitutional amendments.

Since 1964, the total number of electors in a presidential election has been ______.

Drag the component parts to match the number of electors they contribute to the total 538.

Groups:

(a) Representatives

,

(b) Senators

,

(c) Distric of Columbia

• 435

• 100

• 3

Briefly explain how a state's population size affects the number of electoral votes it receives.

On a map of the United States, identify the three states mentioned as having a large number of electoral votes, which presidential candidates often try to win.

The scenario where a candidate wins the popular vote but loses the election (by failing to reach 270 electoral votes) is​ (a)   but​ (b)   happened in US history.

• rare
• has
• common, will
• frequent, can
• usual, might

Which of the following groups of states are critics arguing the Electoral College system is designed to protect?

• Only the geographically large states with small populations, such as the Dakotas and Alaska.

• Only the small population states, such as Rhode Island and Vermont.

• Both small population states (like Rhode Island) and geographically large states with small populations (like Alaska).

• States with a "winner-take-all" system, like California and Texas.

States that have a long history of voting for a particular political party are called ​ (a)   while states that are teetering between voting for different parties in successive elections are called ​ (b)  

• safe states
• swing states
• solid states
• unstable states
• fixed states

When watching the electoral returns on election night, the magic number a candidate needs to win the presidency is ______.

According to the video, which of the following was NOT a concern of the Founding Fathers when creating the Electoral College?

• They worried states with smaller populations might not get fairly represented

• They worried the process would be too expensive to conduct nationally every four years.

• They didn't think the common man was informed enough to choose a suitable president.