1. The Electoral College

2. True or False?
The candidate with the most votes is elected president.

3. The 2000 Election The Popular Vote The Electoral Vote
Al Gore 50,996,039
George W. Bush 50,456,141
The Electoral Vote
George W. Bush 271
Al Gore 267

4. Historical Background
The framers of the Constitution disagreed on how to elect a president—congressional selection or direct popular election.
The electoral college was a compromise, combining features of both approaches.

5. State Electoral Votes
Each state is entitled to as many electoral votes as the sum of its representation in the U.S. House and Senate
Texas: 32 House members plus 2 senators = 34 electoral votes
Arkansas: 4 House members plus 2 senators = 6 electoral votes
Total: 435 House members plus 100 senators plus 3 electors for the District of Columbia = 438 electoral votes

6. Question?
North Carolina has 13 U.S. representatives. How many electoral votes does the state have?

7. Electors
Individuals selected in each state to officially cast that state’s electoral votes.
Texas selects 34 electors to cast the state’s 34 electoral votes.
Framers anticipated that electors would be state leaders who would exercise good judgment.
Today, party leaders select competing slates of electors who are typically long-time party activists.
Electors almost always vote for their party’s candidates.

8. Selection of Electors Each state determines the manner of selection
All but two states use a winner-take-all statewide election system
If Candidate A gets the most votes in a state, Candidate A gets the whole slate of electors.
Maine and Nebraska award electors based on the statewide vote and the vote in each of the state’s congressional districts.

11. Question?
Who are electors?

12. The Real Election
In December, the electors gather in their respective state capitols to cast ballots for president and vice president. In January, Congress convenes, opens the ballots received from each state, and announces the official outcome.

13. What if no one receives a majority?
To win, a candidate needs a majority, that is, 270 electoral votes.
If no candidate has a majority, the House selects the president from among the three presidential candidates with the most electoral votes. Each state delegation has one vote. This last happened in 1824 when Congress chose John Quincy Adams over Andrew Jackson and William Crawford.
The Senate selects the vice president from the top two vice-presidential candidates.

14. Popular Vote v. the Electoral Vote
In a close race, the popular vote winner may not win the electoral college. One candidate may win states by lopsided margins while the other wins states by narrow margins. One candidate may be helped by winning most of the smaller states, which benefit from the small-state bias caused by each state getting at least three electoral votes regardless of its size.
Electoral vote winners who lost the popular vote
Bush over Gore in 2000
Benjamin Harrison over Grover Cleveland in 1888
Rutherford B. Hayes over Samuel Tilden in 1876

15. Question?
Does it matter whether a candidate carries a state by a few votes or a lot of votes?

16. Criticisms of the Electoral College
The popular vote winner may lose the presidency.
Electors may vote for persons other than their party’s presidential and vice presidential candidates.
If no candidate receives a majority, Congress will pick the president and vice president.

17. Will Reform Happen? Amending the Constitution is not easy.
Small states would be opposed to reform because they benefit from the current system.
Groups that are concentrated in states with large numbers of electoral votes (such as Cuban Americans, Jewish Americans, urban residents, etc.) would be opposed to reform because it would diminish their influence.