1. The Electoral College

2. 538 270 How many total electors are there?
How many electoral votes must a candidate get to become president (the “magic number”)?
270
(1 more than half the total… 538/2 = 269)

3. How is the number of electors per state determined?
To find out how many electoral vote each state has, add the number of Representatives (Congressional Districts) in each state + number of Senators = electoral votes
A map of California’s Congressional districts
53 House of Rep. seats + 2 Senate seats = 55 electoral votes
A map of Maine’s Congressional districts
2 House of Rep. seats + 2 Senate seats = 4 electoral votes

4. What is the smallest number of electors a state could have?3

5. Third Party Candidates
How does the popular vote in each state influence that state’s electoral vote?
In 48 states, whichever candidate wins the popular vote in the state wins ALL of the state’s electoral votes.
Republican candidate
George Bush
Democratic candidate
John Kerry
Third Party Candidates
This image shows that in the 2004 election, George Bush, the Republican candidate, won the majority of the popular vote in Nevada and got all 5 electoral votes from that state (names of electors in pink). In contrast, John Kerry, the Democratic candidate, won the majority of votes in New Hampshire and got all 4 of that state’s electoral votes (names of electors in blue).

6. Which 2 states don’t use the winner-take-all system?
Maine & Nebraska
Maine and Nebraska use the District Method: 2 electoral votes go to the candidate who wins the most votes overall in the state, and the other electoral votes go to whichever candidate wins each congressional district

7. Arguments for the electoral college
encourages a 2-party system which builds political stability
candidates must get support from a variety of different regions to win enough electoral votes - builds unity
Voters in small states matter - candidates don’t just pay attention to large states

8. Arguments against the electoral college
It diminishes the principle of one person, one vote
In states where one candidate is very popular, voters may feel like there is little reason to vote- the outcome will not change
a candidate could win the popular vote nationwide but lose the electoral vote. In that case the candidate who won more people’s votes does not become president. This has happened 3 times in U.S. history

9. Suggested Reforms Reform Idea #1
• abolish the electoral college and use the nationwide popular vote instead
Reform Idea #2
• have every state use the District Method (like Maine and Nebraska)
California uses the winner take all system, so John Kerry won all 55 electoral votes in the 2004 election. If California had adopted Reform Idea #2, how many electoral college votes would John Kerry have won? George Bush?

10. How does the electoral college influence a candidate’s campaign strategy?
focus on “battleground states” where polls show the race is close
ignore states where polls show one candidate is very popular
in MOST cases less effort to woo voters in small population states
in SOME cases focus on larger population states

11. What are the key battleground states this year?