Ms. HurleyGovernment April 8, 2009

The Electoral College

Election Day: 11-06-2012When Americans go to the polls during a

Presidential election year, many believe they are voting directly for the President.

In fact, we are NOT directly voting for the President.

Instead, voters are voting for a group of electorates, who have pledged their electoral vote for the winning candidate at a meeting at their respective states’ capital

What are Electoral votes?Every state is given Electoral votes. These are

the votes that are cast in order to formally elect our President

To determine how many votes each state gets, we just follow this simple equation

Number of Senators + Number of Representatives = Votes!

So, Illinois has 2 Senators + 19 Representatives = 21 E.V

Who is in the Electoral College?

Democrats of Illinois Republicans of Illinois

21 Electorates 21 Electorates

•Each party of every state, names electorates, usually at party conventions•The Electorates are party loyalist who have pledged their vote to their party’s candidates.

After November 6, What Happens?The electorates meet at their state capital and

sign a Certificate of Vote

This Certificate is then sent to Washington, where the electoral votes are counted. December 7, 2012

During this, each state opens their envelope and pledges their electoral vote.

The Vice President fulfills one of his roles, by Presiding over the Senate and directing the reading of the votes

270 to win!In order to win the Presidency, the

President must win at least 270 electoral votes.

Finally on January 6, 2013. Our President is formally elected.

Origins of the Electoral College

Founders wanted to give less populated states some leverage in choosing the President

Sought to balance State and Federal Power

Did not trust the common voters to make a wise decision

12th Amendment- changed the way the President and Vice President were chosen.

Problems with the Electoral CollegeFaithless Electors- An electorate from DC did

not cast her electoral vote for Al Gore in 2000 as a form of protest

Winner Take All- Even if the winner of the state vote only wins by a slight margin, they still receive ALL electoral votes

Any election could be determined in the House of Representative- states vote by STATE, not number of Representatives (ALL states have EQUAL Vote)

Historical Significance?4 times in History, Presidents who did NOT

win the popular vote became President.

Most notably and recently, George W. Bush

36 days after the election, George W. Bush was finally named President!

Need for Change?Getting rid of the electoral college would

require an Amendment to the Constitution.

However, due to the “flaws” with the electoral college many say an Amendment is necessary.

oDistrict PlanoDirect ElectionoProportional Plan

District Plan

Pros ConsThe concept of Winner Take All would be eliminated

Does not eliminate the idea that popular vote winner may still not be President

Voters would be able to elect the Electorates making Electorates accountable

Nixon vs. Kennedy 1960Under this plan- Kennedy would have lost

Proportional PlanPros Cons

Cut Winner Take all Still possible for loser of popular election to win electoral voteExample: William Jennings Bryan would have beat McKinley

Get Rid of Faithless Electors Critics worry about what this would do to Two Party systems. A third party would receive votes without winning states

Direct ElectionPros Cons

Vote directly and the system would lose the Electoral College

Constitutional Amendment would be cumbersome, time consuming, AND could be blocked by small states

It is a known process, and it identifies a winner quickly and efficiently (with the exception of 2000)

Weaken our federal system, as States would lose their power in choosing the President

What do you think?The electoral college is up for debate, in

order to change the United States would have to amend the Constitution. Do you support an amendment to the constitution that would change the method of Presidential election?