The Electoral College

H. FRY 2014

What is the Electoral College?

• The Electoral College is NOT a University!

• College: -noun An organized association of

persons having certain powers and rights, and

performing certain duties or engaged in a particular

pursuit: The electoral college formally selects the

president.

• How to choose the president was a

major conflict at the Constitutional

Convention

• Framers didn’t want Congress alone to

decide who should be president

• It would give congress too much

power

• They worried if they left it up to the

people to decide, most would vote for

their local candidate

• This would give an unfair advantage to

the larger states

• They wanted small states to have a

more equal voice

History of the Electoral College

• Framers looked to the Roman

Republic for ideas

• Roman Republic didn’t want the

rich to have too much power

• They had the Centurial Assembly

• Divided male citizens into groups

of 100 according to wealth

• Each group received only one

vote

• It was this idea that led to

compromise on the issue of

electing a president

History of the Electoral College

History of the Electoral College • Article II of the Constitution lists the specifics of the

Electoral College

• When we vote for president, we are actually casting our votes for electors

• Electors will then cast their votes for the candidates

History of the Electoral College • Each state has the same

number of electoral votes as they have Senators and Representatives

• A State’s electoral votes are equal to its representation in Congress

• Senators plus Representatives

• California has 53 Representatives plus 2 Senators

• Idaho has 2 Representatives plus 2 Senators

How the Electoral College Works

• There are 538 total Electors

• Equal to 435 members of the House

• 100 U.S. Senators

• 3 for the District of Columbia (23rd Amendment)

• Must win the majority of the electoral votes (270) to win the presidency

100 Senators

435 Congressional Seats

+ 3 Washington DC

538 Electors

Is the Electoral College Fair?

• The Electoral College meets a few weeks after the presidential election

• Technically, the electors can vote for anyone

• Throughout the history of presidential elections, some have voted for someone else.

• When all the electoral votes are counted, the candidate with the most votes wins

• Usually the candidate who wins the popular vote also wins in the Electoral College, but not always

Is the Electoral College Fair?

• In several elections, the candidate with the popular vote has lost the election.

• The Election of 1800: Aaron Burr and Thomas Jefferson both received 73 electoral votes.

• Went to the House of Representatives to decide.

• Jefferson won

Is the Electoral College Fair?

• The Election of 1824: When the electoral votes were counted, Jackson had the most, 99, John Q. Adams was second with 84

• But they needed 131 votes to win

• Settled in the House of Representatives

• John Quincy Adams won

Is the Electoral College Fair?

• The Election of 1876:

• When the popular votes were counted, Tilden had the most, more than 280,000 more than Hayes.

• But he didn't have enough electoral votes to win.

• Tilden had 184, one fewer than what he needed to win.

• It went to the House, where Hayes won.

Is the Electoral College Fair?

• The Election of 2000:

• Many states were decided by only a handful of votes

• Gore won the popular vote by nearly 540,000 votes

• Bush won the electoral vote 271-266, but ballots in Florida were disputed

• It took nearly 5 weeks to find out who won

• Supreme Court settled a recount issue in Florida, and Bush won

How Can the President Win the

Popular Vote and Still Lose the

Electoral College?

•The difference in the popular and electoral vote generally

results from one candidate narrowly winning a number of

states with a majority of the electoral votes, while losing

badly in other states.

State Candidate A Candidate B

Popular Vote Electoral Vote Popular Vote Electoral Vote

1 100 1 0 0

2 100 1 0 0

3 40 0 60 1

4 40 0 60 1

5 40 0 60 1

Total 320 2 180 3

Arguments For the Electoral

College • Gives small states a

larger say; otherwise

they'd be entirely ignored

(also the founders' intent)

• It gives larger states with

larger populations more

voting power

• Prevents “regionalism”

• Provides a framework for

organizing a campaign

• Without it, candidates

wouldn't have a focus like

they do now

Arguments Against the Electoral

College • The possibility of electing a minority president with the

“Winner Take All system

• The risk of so-called "faithless" Electors

• The possible role of the Electoral College in depressing

voter turnout

• Candidates have no need to campaign in “Safe states” and

spend all their time and money on “Swing states”

Options to Replace the Electoral College

• Replace the Electoral

College with a simple

DIRECT ELECTION

• One person, one vote

• Would require a candidate

to gain an outright majority

of votes cast (50%+1)

• Have an instant runoff

mechanism to be sure the

leader with majority support

is elected.

Options to Replace the Electoral

College • Replace the Electoral College

with a PROPORTIONAL ELECTORAL VOTE

• It splits each state’s electoral votes in accordance with their popular vote percentages.

• This way, a candidate who comes in second place in a state with 45% of the popular vote would receive 45% of the electoral votes from that state, instead of 0%.

• Two states already do this (Maine and Nebraska)

Should We Get Rid of the Electoral

College? • Representative Olson has

been asked to write a bill to

change the Electoral College

• Many people are worried

about the next presidential

election

• Become an informed citizen

• Read more about the pros

and cons of the Electoral

College

• Attend Representative Olson’s

public meeting and tell her

how you stand on the issue

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