1. Presidential Elections
Do Now Questions:
What does it mean to be a “red” state?
What does it mean to be a “blue” state?
Where do these names come from?

2. Electoral Map

3. Popular Vote vs. Electoral Vote
The number of individual votes cast
Electoral Vote
Votes cast by the states
Number of votes varies
How are they related?
Popular vote determines how a state uses its electoral votes

4. Electoral College – Counting Votes
Each state gets a certain number of votes to cast
1 per Senator
1 per Congressman
Exception: Washington D.C.
Has neither Senators nor Congressmen, but they get 3 Electoral Votes
Example: New Jersey
New Jersey sends 13 Congressmen to the House of Representatives and 2 Senators to the Senate. How many Electoral Votes does it get?

5. Electoral College – Counting Votes
What is the fewest number of Electoral Votes a state can have?
What state has the most?
California – 55
Texas – 34
New York - 31

6. “Winner Take All” System
Electoral Votes are cast based on a “winner take all” system
The candidate that receives the highest popular vote in a state receives all of the state's electoral vote
No “partial” votes
No splitting the votes between multiple candidates
Example #1: NJ votes 56% for Gore and 41% for Bush. Of the 15 electoral votes, how many does Gore get?
Example #2: NH votes 48% for Bush and 47% for Gore. Of the 4 electoral votes, how many does Gore get?

7. Is the Electoral College Fair?
Arguments against...
Minority party
Battleground states are ignored
Popular vote vs electoral vote
Third party candidates lose out
Voters in small states have “too much” voice
Arguments for ...
Small states have a voice
Third party candidates don't “dilute” the vote
Simple maps on election night

8. Reforming the Electoral College
Suggested reform in CA
Electoral votes are split
Popular vote is broken down by Congressional district
Candidate wins one electoral vote for each Congressional district he wins
Candidate with the most overall vote gets the 2 “Senator” votes

9. Reforming the Electoral College
Another possibility...
Split the electoral votes based on the proportion of the popular vote
Use regular rounding rules (0.5+ is rounded up)‏
Example: California votes 54% for Gore and 42% for Bush. Of 55 electoral votes, how many does Bush get?

10. Reforming: Examining the Problem
According to the Constitution...
Each state can decide how to use its electoral votes
Change will likely happen over time, state by state
What happens if only some states change their system, and some keep the “winner take all” system?
Does one political party have more of an incentive to reform a state than the other?

11. Reforming: Examining the Problem
To address these issues...
We will re-calculate the 2000 Presidential election
We will use the simple proportion rule
Each candidate gets a percentage of the electoral votes equal to his percentage of the popular vote (rounded to a whole number)‏
Groups will examine one of three possibilities
All states switch to the new rule
Only Democratic states switch to the new rule
Only Republican states switch to the new rule