538 elected representatives who formally select President of the U.S. # of Senators + # of Representatives = # of Electoral Votes Washington, D.C. gets 3 – 23 rd Amendment
People chosen from within respective political party Each state has set of reps from each party ◦ Reps, Dems, Green, Libertarian, etc. Can be anyone
Candidates must have 270 electoral votes to win ◦ Majority vote No majority = H. of Reps votes ◦ 12 th Amendment
Most states have winner-take all ◦ You win popular vote, you win all electoral votes Maine and Nebraska ◦ Single elector chosen within each Congressional district ◦ Winner of Pop vote gets 2 more
Electors generally vote w/party Don’t Have To ◦ Faithless Elector ◦ Casts electoral vote for someone else ◦ Refuses to vote for any candidate
Based on our current system, you can win with 12 states ◦ California – 55Georgia - 16 ◦ Texas – 38NC - 15 ◦ NY – 29NJ – 14 ◦ Florida – 29VA - 13 ◦ Illinois – 20any other state ◦ Pennsylvania - 20 ◦ Ohio – 18 Who does this represent?
Bush: 271 electoral votes ◦ 50,456,002 popular vote ◦ Bush won Florida by 537 votes Gore: 266 ◦ 50,999,897 popular vote
Bush: 286 ◦ 62,040,610 popular vote Kerry: 251 ◦ 59,028,444 popular vote
Obama: 365 electoral vote ◦ 66,882,230 popular vote McCain: 173 ◦ 58,343,671 popular vote 54% of the population
Should we continue to use the Electoral Vote as a deciding factor in an election?