Post on 23-Feb-2016
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The Presidential Election Process
Introduction: The Electoral College
One of the least understood parts of our government, yet it is one of the most important…
From last time we were together…Why did we choose this method instead of popular vote?Why not have the Congress do it?
Total available votes = 538 435 + 100 + 3 = 538 Electors are determined by the
number of Representatives, plus the number of Senators
Minimum number a state can have is 3
Representation is based on population, therefore, electors are based on population.
Logistics of the Electoral College
Where are these 3 electoral
votes from?
Remember – 270
More on the Electoral College It’s a WINNER-TAKE-ALL
– If you get the majority of the popular vote in a state then you get all of the ELECTORAL VOTES for that state.
Remember it takes 270 electoral votes to win
Congressional District Method: Exceptions to the winner-take-all… Maine and Nebraska
– 2 electors (at-large) go with the popular vote winner
– All of the other votes are divided among the Congressional Districts
– That is…If Forsyth’s 9th District voted for Candidate A, Candidate A would get “our” 1 electoral vote, regardless of what the rest of the state voted.
More on Nebraska & Maine
Each Congressional District calculates their popular votes
The candidate with the popular vote in EACH DISTRICT gets the E.C.V. for that particular district
Popular Vote for the entire state get 2 BONUS E.C.V.s +2
A
B
A
A
WHAT’S THE TOTAL FOR THIS “STATE”
???
Choosing Electors Electors are chosen on the same day in
every state: the Tuesday after the first Monday in November…what’s significant about this date? (NOVEMBER 6, 2012)
When voters go to the polls in November, they are voting for an elector NOT the President.
Ideally, this elector will vote for their choice in January…NOT a requirement
Electoral College Breakdown
If you were running which states would you focus on?Why? KNOW
THIS
THE ALL TIME RECORD
2004 Election (Wave = visit) ($ = money) Focus on Swing States – by-products of the
winner-take-all format
Counting the Electoral Votes
These electors are chosen by votersThese electors then report to the state
capital to cast their 2 votesWhen? – Monday after the second
Wednesday in December (DEC. 17, 2012)
Who are the 2 ballots for?
> >This is basically a formality < <We actually know the night of the election who
won the election
Counting the Electoral Votes
The electoral ballots are sent to the President of the Senate
On January 6th they are tallied with a Joint Session of Congress
And the winner is “formally” announced
The trail of your vote…..
You vote for “Candidate X” (their electors)
X Electors
Y Electors
“Officially” Cast Electoral Votes in the
state’s capital
Electoral College
votes are collected
and counted in the D.C.
POTUS is “formally” announced
Georgia’s 15 electors in 2008: Six were women and three more were minorities (African-American, Asian-American and Latino).
CHECKPOINTHow many electoral college votes
does Georgia have?How do they determine the number
of electoral votes that a state has?How many electoral votes do you
need to win the Presidential Election?
The “What Ifs” of the Electoral College
What if no one gets 270?– Election goes to the House of Representatives (1800 & 1824)– Each State gets one vote – 26 to win it
What if the House vote has not been decided by Jan 20th?– Vice President will preside until the President is determined
What if no one received 270 for Vice Presidency?– Senate will determine the VP and then they will preside until
the President is determined
Popular-Vote vs. Electoral College Vote
This happened in 2000
Red or Blue…Who should be elected?
Flaws in the Electoral College System1) Winner of the popular vote may not win the
electoral college vote> This has happened 4 times (See next Slide)
2) Electors are not required to vote for “their” candidate> “Faithless electors” on 11 occasions
3) Election might be decided by the House> This has happened twice> Look out for a 3rd party candidate to take a chunk
TEA PARTY???
Proposed ChangesDistrict Plan –
> Each district within a state would cast their “own” electoral vote
Proportional Plan – > Percentage of electoral votes for the state based on percentage of popular vote from that state
Direct Plan – > Popular vote winner, wins the office
National Bonus Plan – > 102 electoral votes would be awarded automatically to the winner of the popular vote. These votes would be combined with the other electoral votes that the candidate won.
Strengths of the Electoral College
It’s a “known” systemIn most cases it identifies a
winner quickly and certainlyMost of the reforms would
have “loop-holes” too
2008 Presidential Election by State
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/
RepublicanDemocrat
2008 Election Results by county
2008 Election results by population
2004 Presidential Election
2004 - Election Results by County
Election of 2000 (Florida)
One last thing…A timeline to sum it up
Electoral votes are counted
Decision to run – meets 3
qualifications
Electors cast votes, mail
to D.C.
Primaries, Caucus, State Conventions Election
Debate & Campaign
National Conventions
Inauguration