 538 elected representatives who formally select President of the U.S.  # of Senators + # of Representatives = # of Electoral Votes  Washington, D.C. gets 3 – 23 rd Amendment

 People chosen from within respective political party  Each state has set of reps from each party ◦ Reps, Dems, Green, Libertarian, etc.  Can be anyone

 Candidates must have 270 electoral votes to win ◦ Majority vote  No majority = H. of Reps votes ◦ 12 th Amendment

 Most states have winner-take all ◦ You win popular vote, you win all electoral votes  Maine and Nebraska ◦ Single elector chosen within each Congressional district ◦ Winner of Pop vote gets 2 more

 Electors generally vote w/party  Don’t Have To ◦ Faithless Elector ◦ Casts electoral vote for someone else ◦ Refuses to vote for any candidate

 Based on our current system, you can win with 12 states ◦ California – 55Georgia - 16 ◦ Texas – 38NC - 15 ◦ NY – 29NJ – 14 ◦ Florida – 29VA - 13 ◦ Illinois – 20any other state ◦ Pennsylvania - 20 ◦ Ohio – 18  Who does this represent?

 Bush: 271 electoral votes ◦ 50,456,002 popular vote ◦ Bush won Florida by 537 votes  Gore: 266 ◦ 50,999,897 popular vote

 Bush: 286 ◦ 62,040,610 popular vote  Kerry: 251 ◦ 59,028,444 popular vote

 Obama: 365 electoral vote ◦ 66,882,230 popular vote  McCain: 173 ◦ 58,343,671 popular vote  54% of the population

 Should we continue to use the Electoral Vote as a deciding factor in an election?