The Electoral College or The Real Way We Elect Our President

Creation The Electoral College was created at the Constitutional Convention by the Founding Fathers It was the last of many plans adopted in 1787 in Philadelphia

Major Changes Through the Years 12th Amendment-1804-Separated the candidacy of the President and the Vice-President Introduction of Popular Election of electors by states in the 1820’s & 30’s

The Mechanics The Presidential Election should be viewed as 51 separate elections each with a “winner take all” system To win a candidate must get a majority of 538 of the total state votes or 270. Each state is represented in the EC according to their total number of members of Congress.

The Mechanics Cont’d Kentucky has 2 senators and 6 representatives. This means that Kentucky has 8 electoral votes California, the most populous state, has two senators and 53 representatives. This gives California 55 electoral votes Wyoming, the least populous state, has two senators and 1 representative. This gives Wyoming 3 electoral votes

The Mechanics Cont’d The total electoral vote of 538 is based on 100 senators, 435 representatives for the 50 states. The 23rd Amendment gave Washington, DC 3 electoral votes The candidates compete in 50 states and DC for electoral votes and the winner must have at least 270 The Electoral College always works when there are only two candidates

The Mechanics Cont’d If there are more than two candidates, the system might not work If the system does not work, the House elects the President and the Senate elects the Vice- President. This has not happened since 1824.

What the Individual Vote Means Individual votes count only in the state where they are cast When all states have voted, the candidate with the most votes in each state gets all the electoral votes of that state In December, following the November Election, the winning electors in each state go to their respective state capitals and cast their votes and send them to Congress

Electoral College Delegates The delegates are chosen by the political parties in each state Historically, the delegates have been 99.9% loyal to their party After the combined votes in 50 states and DC are counted by a joint session of Congress, the election is official

Disadvantages of the Electoral College System Complex and confusing The person with the most popular votes may not win Gives smaller states too much say

Advantages Preserves the federal system-winning individual states is important. Without the EC, state lines mean nothing Preserves the two party system Keeps our politics moderate-extreme parties have little chance of winning any state

Conclusion The system is not likely to change because of the difficulty of amending the Constitution Why fix it if it is not broken?