Warm-up: Answer the following question on your warm-up page. How many times have your parents voted for the president?

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The Electoral College Electing a President Read pages in the textbook

Presidential Primaries Primaries are like the semi- finals in a tournament… The purpose of primaries is to select a candidate for a political party to compete against the other party’s candidate in the General Election (championship game)

Do both Parties have primaries? Sometimes yes, sometimes no! When one Party has a president sitting in office and he is running for re-election, that party does not have primaries. If a president is finishing his second term, both parties will have several candidates trying to become their Party’s nominee to run for president.

Hopefuls announce their intention to run Begin fundraising and campaigning Primary election held in each state Candidates drop out if they are not winning the primaries The winning candidate for each party is announced at the party convention in the summer And the race for the president begins…General Election! Democrats Republicans

Current Primaries: Who would you vote for? Mitt Romney Newt Gingrich Rick Santorum Ron Paul

General Election Day: the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November On this day our elected representatives are elected by a direct popular vote which means;  The people (electorate) mark their ballots for a candidate on Election Day. The candidate that receives the majority of the votes (popular vote) wins the election.

EXCEPT: Presidential Elections The Framers of the Constitution decided that electing the President would be different. They created the Electoral College. It is a process to select the president and vice president of the US.

Why????? Feared ignorance and apathy of the people. However, more people vote in presidential elections than in state or local elections.

How the Electoral College Works Prior to the General Election, 1) A slate of electors for each state is chosen by Popular vote The number of electors each state gets is based on the state’s total congressional representation. This means the total number of Senators each state has (2) plus the number of members in the House (based on the state’s population)

The Electors VIRGINIA 2 Senate 11 House of Representatives (based on the number of congressional districts) 13 Total Electors

When do electors vote? 2) After General Election Day, the electors meet to cast their electoral vote for the president and vice president based on the popular vote winner in their state NOTE: Since the Electoral College is a process, not a building, the electors meet in their state’s capital and send the ballots to Congress. Congress counts the votes. School House Rock Video active active

Which candidate won the lowest percentage of the popular vote yet won the electoral vote to become president?

3. The Electoral College is a winner-take-all system which means Usually the candidate that wins the popular vote in each state gets all of the state’s electoral votes

Winning the Electoral College 100Senate 435House 3Wash. DC 538TOTAL However, the electors are NOT the same people who are in Congress A candidate must win a majority of the electoral votes The Magic Number is 

How is the total of 538 Electoral College votes determined? What is the purpose of the popular vote in the Electoral College system? Section 2-19 Total number electors is one elector for each senator and representative in every state, plus three for the District of Columbia. The winner of the state’s popular vote receives all the state’s electors.

You would think that presidential candidates would only focus on the larger states that have more electoral votes. However, the candidates must also pay attention to The smaller states which can become important when their electoral votes may make the difference in close elections

Section 2-3 Click the Speaker button to replay the audio. Election 2000

2000 Election George Bush Popular Vote 50,461,092 Electoral Vote 271 Al Gore Popular Vote 50,994,086 Electoral Vote 266

2000 Election : In which states did each party get a majority? How does that affect campaigns?

Section 2-3 Senator Durbin

The requirement for a majority vote to win the Electoral College favors a two party political system because third parties cannot win enough popular votes in order to get the electoral votes.

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General Election Day: cont. the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November Voters from each state go to the polls to select their presidential candidate and his running mate ( popular vote ) The popular vote is counted and a winner is declared in each state The winning candidate in each state gets all of the state's electoral vote. This is called the winner-take- all system. In December, the electors meet to cast their state's vote for president. There are only 538 electoral vote that decides who will be president A candidate must win a majority of the electoral vote in order to win the Electoral College and become president A candiate needs at least 270 of the 538 vote in order to win.

If you were running for President, which states would you want to win?

States that are always competitive among candidates: California 55 votes New York33 votes Texas32 votes Florida25 votes Pennsylvania 23 votes Illinois22 votes Ohio21 votes

Electoral College Trivia Does winning the popular vote always mean you become president? NO - winning the popular vote does not always mean you will reach the magic number of 270 What happens if no candidate receives a majority of the electoral votes? The House of Reps votes Has this ever happened? Yes, in 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000

   Inauguration Day    January 20 th

Electoral College Review Popular Vote Electoral Vote

HOMEWORK 1. Color in the US map according to instructions.