Objective 4.4 Explain the procedures used to elect the President and Vice President (SOL 7.2)

There are steps in the election process. Declare your candidacy Campaign Run in primaries Be chosen at convention Campaign Citizens vote Electoral College chooses

The first 6 steps will be covered in detail in a later unit. Declare your candidacy Campaign Run in primaries Be chosen at convention Campaign Citizens vote

The final step will be covered in Objective 4.4 Declare your candidacy Campaign Run in primaries Be chosen at convention Campaign Citizens vote

Declare your candidacy: say that you are running

Run in primaries: “practice” elections held in a variety of states to see who is strong

Be chosen at convention: each party picks one person to be their candidate for the election

Campaign: advertise yourself and party goals across the nation

Citizens vote: in November, citizens in each state vote for electors

After these six steps the “REAL” election takes place In December, the Electoral College votes: President & V-P are chosen

Electors chosen by popular vote: on “Election Day” ( in November) there are really 50 elections

Electors chosen by popular vote: people in each state vote for the “team” of electors that have pledged to support the candidate the voter likes

Electors equal state’s representation in Congress: Virginia has 2 Senators and 11 Representatives therefore each Virginia “team” has 13 electors

Winner-take-all system: only one “team” of electors can represent a state in the Electoral vote in December; “team” with most votes is it

Electors meet and vote: each “team” of electors from the states gather in December and vote for President and Vice President

Requirement for a majority vote in electoral college favors 2-party system: it is very difficult to get a majority of votes if there are more than 2 political parties

Election goes to Congress House chooses President; Senate chooses V-P; (each state gets one vote)

Summary Declare your candidacy Campaign Run in primaries Be chosen at convention Campaign Be voted for by citizens Electoral College chooses