Objectives w Assess information on Electoral College, and draw your own conclusions as to whether or not it should be reformed. w Question: Should the Presidency be decided by popular vote of all citizens?

Structure of Electoral College w # Electors per state = # Members of Congress per state (Reps + 2 Senators) w 538 Electoral votes (270 needed for win) w Winner Takes All: All electors in a state vote for whoever wins the state except Maine & Nebraska (district system) How many Electors does Pennsylvania have?

Impacts on the Political System? w Con: “Faithless” Electors w Pro/Con: “Winner Takes All” impacts: w Candidates may focus on large “swing” states & ignore other states w Con? Discourages 3rd parties who rarely get EC votes (e.g. Green & Libertarian parties) w Pro? Fosters 2-Party System (stability & moderation)

1968 Election: George Wallace ran as an Independent. With 13.5% of the national popular vote, he won 45 Electoral College votes. His regional support base was the reason Election: Ross Perot ran as an Independent. With 18.9% of the national popular vote, he won 0 Electoral College votes. Source: presidentelect.org

CON: Candidate may win despite losing the popular vote, due to “winner takes all” w How is that possible?? w 1 st Scenario: w Winning candidate wins by narrow margins in several states, but has big losses in other states w 2000: Bush 271 vs. Gore 266 Gore had over 500,000 more popular votes than Bush, but lost by 537 votes in Florida Election results since 1964 Florida Recount

CONS: Candidate may win despite losing the popular vote If no Presidential candidate wins a majority… House of Rep’s chooses Pres. from top 3 (Each state gets only one vote) w Senate chooses Vice President from top 2 w If no President by Jan. 20, then presidential succession order = Speaker of House, President Pro Tempore, Secretary of State, other Cabinet Secretaries

Pros: w Promotes Federalism: Must campaign by states can’t win by focusing only on a few regions smaller states get a boost w Fosters Intentions of Founding Fathers It was a Constitutional Compromise w Fosters Two-Party System More stability (fewer 3rd party upsets)

Pros? Cons? w Con: Public Opinion (more people oppose it) w Pro? Con?: Votes of All Citizens Don’t Count Equally (Smaller states “overrepresented”?) E.g. 2004: 1 WY Elector = 165,101 votes 1 CA Elector = 617,000 votes w Con: Lack of Legitimacy for officeholder if they won election, but lost the popular vote

Reform Proposals: w 1) District Plan Pros/Cons: No winner takes all Presidential election decided by gerrymandered district maps Winner of Popular vote could still lose election No Constitutional Amendment required, but up to each state

Reform Proposals w 2) Proportional Plan % of state popular vote = % of Electors given No winner takes all Winner of popular vote could still lose More 3 rd party votes increase chances of vote being sent to House of Rep’s

Reform Proposals w 3) Direct Popular Election All votes count equally Clear winner = leader with legitimacy Hard to amend Constitution Costs too much $ to campaign?

Choices: w 1) Keep Electoral College as is w 2) District Plan w 3) Proportional Plan w 4) Direct Popular Election w Directions: w Discuss pros/cons of each. w Choose your corner w Prepare arguemtns to persuade people w Prepare arguments for informal debate

Should the Electoral College be reformed? If yes, how? Informal Debate: * Make a list of pros and cons. * Choose a side. * Defend and Explain your position.