Vocab Quiz You have 5 minutes to study Honors- Editorial due today No extensions or exceptions

Warm-up (next left hand page) What is “Campaign Finance Reform” and why is it needed? Campaign Finance Reform are laws that place limits on the amounts individuals can contribute to campaigns. It is needed to help with the rising costs of running a campaign …and make it fair for anyone to run for office not just the wealthy. However, interest groups and PACs have found a way around these limits by giving “Soft money”.

Discussion Estimate- How many times have your parents voted for president?

Daily Objectives Explain the process of how the Electoral College selects the president and vice president.

Primary Process How political parties select and nominate candidates for public office

Presidential Primaries Primaries are like the semi- finals in a tournament…

DemocratsRepublicans

E The Framers of the Constitution decided that electing the President would be different. They created the Electoral College. XCEPT: Presidential Elections What is the Electoral College? - a process to select the president and vice president of the US

How does it work? The votes that the American Voters cast in the General Election are for a slate of electors. These electors cast the official vote for president and vice president. School House Rock Video e=active

Step 1: Popular vote is held. Registered voters in each state vote on General Election Day

Step 2: Slate of electors is chosen based on the winner of the popular vote. The candidate that wins the state’s popular vote gets all the state’s electoral votes. This is called the WINNER TAKE ALL SYSTEM

2008 Election : In which states did each party get a majority? How does that affect campaigns?

Step 3: Electors vote The slate (group) of electors for the state’s winning candidate meet to cast their vote in the state capital.

Which candidate won the lowest percentage of the popular vote yet won the electoral vote to become president?

Step 4: Winner of the electoral vote becomes president The candidate who wins at least 270 of the 538 electoral votes becomes the next president!

Section 2-3 Senator Durbin

2000 Election George Bush Popular Vote 50,461,092 Electoral Vote 271 Al Gore Popular Vote 50,994,086 Electoral Vote 266

Electoral College Review This “indirect” process is used only selecting the president and vice president All other elected representatives are voted in directly by the voters. persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active Popular Vote Electoral Vote

Electors The number of electors for each state is based on the state’s Congressional Representation. Congressional Representation means the number of people who work in the US Congress for each state. 2 senators + # of House members Let’s practice!

If you were running for President, which states would you want to win?

Candidates target densely populated states (states with more people) for campaigning because they have more electoral votes In tight elections, candidates must also pay attention to less populated states whose electoral votes may make the difference.

Candidates must win Of the electoral votes to win to become president. Why might the requirement of a majority vote to win the Electoral College favor a two- party system?

   Inauguration Day    January 20 th

Conclusion (write at the bottom or on the lined page) Explain the process of how the Electoral College selects the president and vice president. Academic- get it stamped Honors- get a peer response

Homework 1. Complete the worksheet activities on the Electoral College. 2. Get a study guide for the test next class. This will be the 1 st grade of the second quarter. 3. Complete the Electoral College election results worksheet 4. Have your notebook organized and ready to grade.

Section 2-16 Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the answer. Why did the Founders create the Electoral College system? Some Founders wanted the people to have direct control over the national government. They wanted direct election. Others believed that the government must be able to function without having to give in to popular whims. They wanted Congress to choose the president. They compromised by having state legislatures choose electors. Presidential Elections (cont.) (pages 242–244)

DYK2 No formal procedure for nominating the president existed from 1789 to Political leaders, working through the Electoral College, unanimously chose George Washington to be the first president.