1. Electing the President
Chapter 8 Section 2

2. Warm up
Briefly discuss any job or personal qualifications you believe the President of the United States of America should have prior to becoming the President. OR
Briefly discuss by what process the President of the United States of America should be elected into office.

3. The Electoral College

4. Name: Date: Nov 13, 2014 “Electing the President”
Define 2 terms (Pg. 220 or 226): 1) 2)

5. Electing the President
In the early years of the United
States, there were several ideas
as to how to elect the President.
One idea was by direct popular
vote, where each citizen’s vote
was counted the same. However,
the founders didn’t think citizens
could make educated voting decisions because they
knew little about their potential leaders.
Thus, it led to the creation of the Electoral College.

6. (No popular vote was cast at this time)
I. The Original System
Article II, Section I:
The Electoral College:
Each state would have as many electors as it had Senators and Representatives in Congress
(No popular vote was cast at this time)

7. The Twelfth Amendment (1804):
In 1804, the 12th Amendment required electors to cast separate ballots for the President and Vice President
If no candidate receives a
majority of the electoral votes,
the House chooses from the top
3 candidates with the largest
number of electoral votes. The
Senate would decide from the top 2 candidates for VP.

8. II. The Electoral College Today
A. Conventions
Political parties choose
the nominees for President
and Vice President at
conventions held late in the
summer of an election year.
B. Voting
When party members vote at the conventions they are voting for all their party’s electors in the state
(Thus, citizens who vote are indirectly voting)

9. III. Electoral College Numbers
A. The Electoral College includes 538 electors
House of Representatives 435
Senate
District of Columbia
538 total
B. To win a majority of the Electoral College, a candidate must win at least 270 electoral votes

10. IV. Electoral College Issues
A. Winner-Take-All system
The candidate who receives the largest number of popular votes gets all the electors for the state
Ex – More than 2 million Texans voted for Bill Clinton, but Clinton did not receive any of Texas’ electoral votes

11. IV. Electoral College Issues (Con’t)
B. Third-Party Candidates
Could prevent a majority;
Ex. Ralph Nader in 2000
Ross Perot in
C. Election by House of Representatives
Each state would cast 1 vote for President, so even less populous states like Alaska would have as much say as a populous states like California. Thus, this is viewed as an unfair representation based on population.
D. Idea for Reform
Remove the Electoral College and elect the President popularly “one man one vote” that’s it!

12. V. Inauguration
New Presidents take the oath of office on January 20th every 4 years (next in Jan. 2016)
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
- FDR’s Inauguration speech
“Ask not what your country can do for you-ask what you can do for your country.” – JFK’s

13. Questions to Answer
Critical Thinking question page 222 How many weeks between a presidential election and inauguration?
Critical Thinking question page 225Which states the that backed the Democratic Candidate in 1996 voted Republican in 2000? 1) 4) 5)
Class of 2015 do not need to do the last question
Page 746 List Presidents # and include 2-3 facts about each President do not include date of birth and death as facts about President.