Electoral College What do you think of

Electoral College

What do you think of when you think of Presidential elections? Why was the vote in Florida so important in 2000?

Most Americans probably need to read this…. Let’s hope not!

What is the Electoral College? It is the constitutional system used to elect the Chief Executive. Established by Article II of the Constitution and the 12 th Amendment (1804). Each state is assigned a specific number of electors. When you vote for President, you are actually voting for the group of electors from your state.

When you cast your vote, you are actually voting for the ELECTORS from your state. The candidate that gets the most votes in your state, gets those electors.

To Find the Number of Electoral Votes for a state So: There are 538 Electoral Votes on the map Number of Representatives in the House To win: + 538/2=269 Number of Senators (Always 2) A majority is Total Number of Electors 50% + 1 TO WIN THE WHITE HOUSE YOU MUST WIN A MAJORITY OF ELECTORAL VOTES The candidate that wins the popular vote in that state gets all that state’s electoral votes (except for Maine and Nebraska). So to be President you need 270 Electoral Votes

OK – but if there are 435 members of the House and 100 members of the Senate, there should only be 535 electoral votes! Where do the other 3 come from? 23 rd Amendment gave DC 3 electoral votes!

That’s 3 Electoral Votes! Michael Jordan played for the Washington Wizards and wore number 23!

Key Electoral College Dates and Events View all the 2016 Presidential Election Key Dates • November 8, 2016—Election Day: The voters in each State choose electors to serve in the Electoral College. As soon as election results are final, the States prepare seven original "Certificates of Ascertainment" of the electors chosen, and send one original along with two certified copies to the Archivist of the United States at the Office of the Federal Register. • December 19, 2016—Meeting of Electors: The electors in each State meet to select the President and Vice President of the United States. The Electors record their votes on six “Certificates of Vote, ” which are paired with the six remaining original “Certificates of Ascertainment. ” The electors sign, seal and certify the packages of electoral votes and immediately send them to the Federal and State officials listed in these instructions. • December 28, 2016—Deadline for Receipt of Electoral Votes: The President of the Senate, the Archivist of the United States, and other designated Federal and State officials must have the electoral votes in hand. • January 6, 2017—Counting Electoral Votes in Congress: The Congress meets in joint session to count the electoral votes (unless Congress passes a law to change the date).

What if no candidate gets a majority of the electoral vote? Should none of the candidates win a majority of the electoral votes, the 12 th Amendment kicks in and the election is decided by the House of Representatives. The combined representatives of each state get one vote and a simple majority of states is required to win. This has only happened twice. Presidents Thomas Jefferson in 1801 and John Quincy Adams in 1825 were elected by the House of Representatives.

Do the electors have to vote for the candidate from their party? . NO While the state electors are "pledged" to vote for the candidate of the party that chose them, nothing in the Constitution requires them to do so. In rare instances, an elector will defect and not vote for his or her party's candidate. Such "faithless" electors rarely change the outcome of the election and laws of some states prohibit electors from casting them. .

State Hawaii Texas Party Pledged to Vice Presidential v presidential v ote Bernie Clinton/Kaine Sanders (IVT) Elizabeth Warren (DMA) Carly John Trump/Pence Fiorina (RKasich (R-OH) VA) David Mulinix Christopher Suprun Mike Pence (R-IN) Colin Clinton/Kaine Powell (RVA)[49] Maria Cantwell (DWA) Susan Collins (RME) Peter Bret Chiafalo [43][44][45] Esther John Elizabeth Warren (DMA) [42] Levi Guerra Colin Powell Clinton/Kaine (R-VA) References Bill Greene Trump/Pence Ron Paul (RTX) Name of Elector Washington Colin Powell Clinton/Kaine (R-VA) Winona Faith Spotted Clinton/Kaine La. Duke (GEagle (D-SD) MN) [50][51][52][53] Robert Satiacum Jr.

Percentages indicate the amount of the candidates lead

SUMMARY • There are 538 electoral votes and the magic number is 270 • The popular vote only matters in the state • There can be, but rarely are, faithless electors • The Founders were concerned about the President having too much power and the small states being ignored, so this system protected against both

Analyze this cartoon…

…and that is the Electoral College