1. “A sham and a waste of time” -Robyn Sunderland*
The Electoral College
“A sham and a waste of time”
-Robyn Sunderland*
*The only thing she remembers from her high school history classes

2. What is the Electoral College
NOT a place, it is a process
Constitutional process for electing the President and Vice-President
Perhaps the weirdest part of our political system
Very confusing
Very controversial
Endured nonetheless

3. Why the Electoral College?
Framers fearful of “mob rule”
Put in a safety valve in case the people ever wanted to elect someone terrible

4. How Does it Work?
Total # of Electoral Votes = 1 for each seat in Congress
Today = 538
Senate seats = 100
House seats = 435
DC = (per 23rd Amendment)
To become POTUS, must have highest number of electoral and at least a majority
Today, to win presidency must have at least 270

5. Today’s Electoral Map

6. Who Casts Electoral Votes?
Each candidate’s party chooses electors who have pledged to vote for that candidate if given the opportunity
Regular voters in each state cast votes for the electors of the candidate of their choice
Popular Vote
The candidate whose electors get the majority of popular votes in each state are “elected” to vote in the Electoral College

7. Winner Take All
All but 2 states (ME & NE) use “Winner Take All” method
Whichever candidate’s electors gets a majority of popular vote, has ALL of their electors elected
Ex. PA = 20 electoral votes
Candidate A’s electors get 51% of popular vote in PA so 100% of Candidate A’s electors in PA get to vote in Electoral College
ME & NE use divide electoral votes proportionally

8. WTH? (The Weird Stuff) Pretty Undemocratic Faithlessness
Winner Take All System =
Only have to win 11 most populous states to win
Possible for candidate who lost the popular vote to win the electoral vote
Happened 4 times so far (1824, 1876, 1888, 2000)
Possible for candidate who did not win a majority of popular votes to win electoral vote
Happened 14 times so far
Maybe this is a virtue of the Electoral College