1. How the Electoral College Works STEPS TO BECOMING A PRESIDENT

2. STEP 1:
The electorate (voting people) cast ballots for their choice for President of the United States.

3. STEP 2:
These votes (popular vote) are tallied in each state and the candidate who wins a majority of the popular vote in that state receives ALL of the electors (members of the Electoral College). This means that the candidate who wins the majority of the popular vote in a state wins all of the electoral votes from that state.
A state’s number of electors is equal to its number of representatives in the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate.
The total number of electoral votes possible, including D.C., is 538.

4. STEP 3:
A candidate must receive a majority of the electoral votes to with the presidential election.
Today, a majority is 270 votes.
The reason this is a winner-take-all system is that if a candidate only wins a plurality (not a clear majority, but more than the other candidates) of the popular votes in a state, he usually wins all of the electoral votes of that state!

5. STEP 4:
If no candidate wins a clear majority of the electoral votes, the election is decided by the U.S. House of Representatives. Each state has ONE vote.
This happened in the elections of 1800 and 1824.

6. STEP 5:
After votes from the whole election are tallied: If a candidate wins the popular vote in the national election, but loses the electoral vote, he does NOT become president.
This happened in the elections of 1876, 1888, and 2000.

7. STEP 6:
The candidate that receives the majority of the electoral votes nationally (or who is voted president in the House) becomes the next official President of the United States.
As few as eleven states can spell victory in the Electoral College!

8. Where would you go?

9. Representatives: How to balance power between large and small states
Electoral College: What’s The Scoop Reasons why the Framers of the Constitution adopted an electoral college
Representatives: How to balance power between large and small states
Result: Electoral votes are determined by population, just like Congress.
# of Representatives +#of Senators= # of Electoral Votes

10. Fear: People weren’t educated enough to make a good decision.
Result: Electors who were educated about the process would wait Until after the general election and make the official vote.

11. Knowledge: Voters didn’t know about candidates from other states.
Result: Using electors would keep people from voting on candidates from their state.

12. Today:
Voting tells the elector which candidate the voter wants the elector to vote for in the electoral college.
Electors do not have to vote for the candidate that they are pledged to.

13. Election Candidates Party Affiliation Votes: Electoral and Popular
2000
Al Gore
Democrat
,003,835(48.4%)
George Bush
Republican
,460,110(47.9%)
Ralph Nader
Patrick Buchanan
Harry Browne
Green
Reform
Libertarian
,883,064(2.73%)
,129(0.43%)
,490(0.36%)
Notes
The real election was between Al Gore and George Bush, with Ralph Nader becoming a key factor in the popular vote sector.
This election was the longest election in 100 years, taking 36 extra days to confirm.
This was the first time the Supreme Court had ever had to step in to complete an election. Florida experienced complications with their ballot returns in many counties, prompting Gore to make an unprecedented call on the U.S. Supreme Court to recount the votes in that state.
Down to the wire, it soon became clear that Bush would win the popular vote in Florida (by only 500), and was granted Florida’s 25 electoral votes! So, even though Gore won the national popular vote, the state of Florida decided the election and Bush won the presidency.