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The Electoral College. or The Real Way We Elect Our President. Creation. The Electoral College was created at the Constitutional Convention by the Founding Fathers It was the last of many plans adopted in 1787 in Philadelphia. Major Changes Through the Years.
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The Electoral College or The Real Way We Elect Our President
Creation The Electoral College was created at the Constitutional Convention by the Founding Fathers It was the last of many plans adopted in 1787 in Philadelphia
Major Changes Through the Years • 12th Amendment-1804-Separated the candidacy of the President and the Vice-President • Introduction of Popular Election of electors by states in the 1820’s & 30’s
The Mechanics • The Presidential Election should be viewed as 51 separate elections most with a “winner take all” system. • To win a candidate must get a majority of 538 of the total electoral votes or 270. • Each state is represented in the EC according to their total number of members of Congress.
The Mechanics Cont’d • Kentucky has 2 senators and 6 representatives. This means that Kentucky has 8 electoral votes • California, the most populous state, has two senators and 53 representatives. This gives California 55 electoral votes • Wyoming, the least populous state, has two senators and 1 representative. This gives Wyoming 3 electoral votes
The Mechanics Cont’d • The total electoral vote of 538 is based on 100 senators, 435 representatives for the 50 states. The 23rd Amendment gave Washington, DC 3 electoral votes • The candidates compete in 50 states and DC for electoral votes and the winner must have at least 270 • The Electoral College will always work when there are only two candidates
The Mechanics Cont’d • If there are more than two candidates, the system might not work • If the system does not work, and there is no majority winner, the House elects the President and the Senate elects the Vice-President. This has not happened since the election of 1824.
What the Individual Vote Means • Individual votes count only in the state where they are cast. • When a state has voted, the candidate with the most votes in each state gets all the electoral votes of that state. • In December, following the November Election, the winning electors in each state go to their respective state capitals and cast their votes and send them to Congress.
Electoral College Delegates • The delegates are chosen by the political parties in each state. • Historically, the delegates have been 99.9% loyal to their party. • After the combined votes in 50 states and DC are counted by a joint session of Congress, the election is official.
Disadvantages of the Electoral College System • Complex and confusing to some. • The person with the most popular votes may not win (Al Gore in 2000). • Gives smaller states too much say in elections (their equal representation in the Senate gives them more influence than their population would have otherwise)
Advantages • Preserves the federal system-winning individual states is important. Without the EC, state lines mean nothing • Preserves the two party system • Keeps our politics moderate. Extreme or third parties have little chance of winning enough states to win.
Conclusion • The system is not likely to change because of the difficulty of amending the Constitution • The states are unlikely to want to give up their power. They want to be relevant to the process. • Why fix it if it is not broken? • On the other hand could technology make a difference?
