Presidential Election

Formal Qualifications At least 35 Years of Age Natural Born Citizen 14 Years of Residence

Informal Qualifications of President Name Recognition Experience in politics or Leadership role A pleasing appearance on TV – Nixon’s sweaty debate No Skeletons in closet Resident of big state Support of major political party Balanced Ticket

2012 Presidential Candidates Republicans Mitt Romney Newt Gingrich Rick Santorum Ron Paul Democrats Barack Obama

Primaries and Caucuses Primaries/Caucuses – Party process to narrow the list of candidates. – 42 states hold primaries. – Generally the party out of power has the more hard fought process. – Caucuses are the oldest method for picking convention delegates. –

Conventions – Each party calls a convention in the summer of the election year. – The party tells each state how many delegates they may send. – The number of delegates is based on the states electoral votes. » 2012 – Democrats- Charlotte – Republicans- Tampa

Platform Each party sets a platform at their convention The platform is a list of principles and policy positions on key issues. They are often general in an attempt to attract the most voters. – Lower Taxes – Better Schools

Electoral College President officially elected by electors. Electors are = # of senators and representatives in a state (Higher population more representatives.) On Election Day the voters elect the # of electors to which their state is entitled. Candidates must receive a majority- 270 of the 538 total electoral votes.

History The structure of the Electoral College can be traced to the Centurial Assembly system of the Roman Republic, and the term “elector” to the later Holy Roman Empire. –An elector was one of a number of princes of the various German states within the Holy Roman Empire who had a right to participate in the election of the German emperor. The term "college" (from the Latin collegium), refers to a body of persons that act as a unit. In the early 1800's, the term "electoral college" came into general use as the unofficial designation for the group of citizens selected to cast votes for President and Vice President. It was first written into Federal law in 1845, and today the term appears in 3 U.S.C. section 4, in the section heading and in the text as "college of electors."

History The similarities between the Electoral College and classical institutions are not accidental. Many of the Founding Fathers were well schooled in ancient history and its lessons. Founders started electoral The Electoral College was established by the founders as a compromise between election for the president by Congress and election by popular vote. Alexander Hamilton was among the first to write about the concept of electors in the Federalist Papers in The electoral college assumed its present constitutional form in The term "electoral college" does not appear in the Constitution. Article II of the Constitution and the 12th Amendment refer to "electors," but not to the "electoral college."

Why do we have the Electoral College? Three reasons: – 1. The framers of the Constitution feared direct democracy. Hamilton and the other founders did not trust the population to make the right choice. “election should be made by men most capable of analyzing the qualities adapted to the station” » – James Madison

Why do we have the Electoral College? Three reasons: – 2. The founding fathers wanted to protect the interests of smaller states and rural areas – 3. Electoral College helps dilute the effect of votes from densely populated centers whose issues and concerns may be different from the rest of the country

How Does It Work? Most people believe that when you vote in the General Election in November, you are casting your vote for the President of the United States. WRONG! When you cast your vote in November, you are actually voting for a “slate” (group) of electors, who are in turn pledged to vote for a specific candidate in December.

Wisconsin Wisconsin has 10 electors – 8 Representatives – 2 Senators Each party selects 10 electors. – Selected based on loyalty to party If their party gets the most votes on election day their electors vote.

Changes to Electoral vote based on 2010 Census

Advertising Money Spent ($= 1,000,000) (September 26-November 2, 2004)

Number of Presidential Candidate visits (September 26- November 2, 2004)

2008 Election Results bama_vs_mccain/ bama_vs_mccain/ 2012 Electoral College Map ractive-electoral/ ractive-electoral/ l/ l/

2000 Election Is it possible to win the most popular votes but lose the election? Plurality – One more vote than anyone else in the race.

2000 Election Results Ohio2,351,209502,186, , Oklahoma744, ,27638——8 Oregon713, , , Pennsylvania2,281,127462,485, , Rhode Island130, , , South Carolina785, , , South Dakota190, ,80438——3 Tennessee1,061, , , Texas3,799,639592,433, , Utah515, , , Vermont119, , , Virginia1,437,490521,217, , Washington1,108,864451,247, , West Virginia336, , , Wisconsin1,237,279481,242, , Wyoming147, ,481284, Total50,456, %50,999, %2,882, %271266

Electoral College Flaws Winner of Popular vote may lose the election – 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000 Tie or less than 270 goes to the house – 1800 – 1824 Faithless Elector – 11 out of over 21,000 vote

The Pivotal States: In the 2000 election, Al Gore lost to George W. Bush by only 5 electoral votes. –In four states (NM, OR, FL & MN), the popular vote was decided by a margin of less than 2%. –Nationwide, the vote was decided by less than 1%. –In New Mexico, the winning margin was only 366 people. If only 366 voters in New Mexico had voted differently, or if 366 more Democrats had voted at all, Al Gore would have won the 2000 election.

The “Nader” Issue Does your vote count? Consider the impact of Ralph Nader’s campaign on the Democratic party’s vote in the 2000 election. –Nader received about 3 percent of the popular vote. –Most Nader votes would otherwise have voted Democrat (for Al Gore). –Democrats accused Nader of “handing the election to Bush” by splitting the Democratic vote. –Was this true? Consider the chart on the next page.

The True “Swing States” If the popular vote in ANY ONE of these states had go ne to Al Gore, he would have won the election. If Nader had not been a candidate and the Nader voters had supported Gore, ALL of the electoral votes in these states would have gone to Gore.

100% Republican 100% Democrat

Most Popular Proposed reforms District Plan Proportional Plan Direct Popular Election

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