amp QUESTIONS Electoral college Article and questions Answer the 7 questions in the article and be prepared to discuss your responses CNN Student News OneSheet Electoral College Who actually elects the president of the United States ID: 713361
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Slide1Slide2
ELECTORAL COLLEGE ARTICLE
& QUESTIONSSlide3
Electoral college Article and questions
Answer the 7 questions in the article and be prepared to discuss your responses.
CNN Student News One-Sheet: Electoral College
Who actually elects the president of the United States?
Why the Electoral College instead of direct vote by the people?
How does the Electoral College work?
How are presidential electors selected?
Can a candidate win the popular vote but lose the election?
When does all of this take place?
What are some arguments for and against the Electoral College?Slide4
DISCUSSION AND NOTES
WHAT IS THE ELECTORAL
COLLEGE?
HOW
MANY ELECTORS DOES EACH STATE
GET?
WHY
DID THE FRAMERS CREATE IT?Slide5
u.s. Constitution
Article II
Section 1
The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows
Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.
The Congress may determine the Time of choosing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.
President and VP will serve for 4 years and be elected in the following manner.
Each state will choose electors to select the president. Each state will receive the # of electors = to representatives in Congress for their state.
Congress will establish the dates for electors to cast their vote.Slide6
What is the electoral college?
It is the
method by which the President and Vice President are elected every 4 years
.
The
popular vote selects electors
in each state, who then vote on the President and VP.
Electoral votes are counted in Congress
.538 Electors are chosen from the 50 states and the District of Columbia to cast the official votes that elect the President and VP270 Electoral Votes to win West Virginia gets 5 votes
which is equal to the # of representatives for West Virginia in CongressSlide7
What if there is a tie vote or no majority in the electoral college?
House
of Representatives elects the President
from the 3 Presidential candidates who received the most Electoral votes.
Senate elects the VPSlide8
538 Electoral Votes270 to Win
Where does the extra 3 come from when there is only 535 members of Congress? Slide9
23rd Amendment
Passed by Congress June 16, 1960.
Ratified
March 29, 1961
District of Columbia is allocated 3 electors
and treated like a state for purposes of the Electoral College. Slide10Slide11
Why did the framers create the electoral college?
“
The tyranny of the majority.”
James Madison worried about what he called “factions,” which he defined as groups of citizens who have a common interest in some proposal that would either violate the rights of other citizens or would harm the nation as a whole.
Slide12
Why did the framers create the electoral college?
Alexander Hamilton - The Federalist Papers
“the Constitution is designed to ensure that the office of
President will never fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications.”
The point of the Electoral College is to preserve “the sense of the people,” while at the same time
ensuring that a president is chosen “by men most capable of analyzing the qualities adapted to the station, and acting under circumstances favorable to deliberation, and to a judicious combination of all the reasons and inducements which were proper to govern their choice.”Slide13
What was the intention of the Electoral College?
What was the intention of the Electoral College?
Protect the people from mob rule picking the President.
Ensure a qualified President.
Founding Fathers
compromised between allowing Congress to elect the President and allowing the popular vote to elect the PresidentSlide14
ROAD TO THE WHITE HOUSE
WHAT ARE THE 4 STEPS TO BECOMING PRESIDENT?Slide15
Road to the white house
STEP 1 Caucuses and Primaries
STEP 2 Nominating Conventions
STEP 3 General
Election – Popular Vote
STEP 4 Electoral CollegeSlide16Slide17Slide18
STEP 1 Caucuses and Primaries
In the Spring, voters in each state cast ballots to narrow down the pool of candidates to 1 person for each major political party.
(
Democrats
/
Republicans
)Slide19
STEP 1 Caucuses and Primaries
Caucus
: closed meeting of party members in each state in which delegates select the party’s choice for presidential candidate
Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, North Dakota, Wyoming, Iowa
Primary Election
: special election in which voters select candidates to be the party’s nominee for president in the general election
Types of Primary Elections:
1-
Closed Primary: Voters may vote in a party’s primary only if they are registered members of that party2-
Open Primary: A registered voter may vote in any party primary regardless of his or her own party affiliation.Slide20
PIzza
CHOICE 1:
PEPPERONI
CHEESE
CHOICE 2:
PINEAPPLE
GREEN PEPPERS
CAUCUS
1- Raise your hand if you want Choice 12- Don’t raise
your hand if you want Choice 23- You can now persuade peers to join your side.4- Count Votes – Which pizza will we order?PRIMARY1- Open the Ballot and vote for the pizza of your choice.2- Results – Which pizza will we order?Which method did you prefer?Slide21Slide22Slide23
Primary election in wv
WEST VIRGINIA – SEMI CLOSED PRIMARY:
All parties allow any voter who is not registered with an official party to request their ballot for the Primary Election.
Where can we find out more information on elections for our state?
West Virginia Secretary of State’s officeSlide24
Selection Type
Definition
Advantages
Disadvantages
Caucus
Closed meeting of party members in each state.
Delegates select the party’s choice for presidential candidate.
Currently, six states, including in 2008, offer party caucuses selecting presidential nominees.
Only hard core party faithful who have the biggest stake in the outcome participate
Cheaper than primary elections ex: no polling or ballot cost.
Brings early exposure to candidates and issues.
Still democratic as party members do vote; tradition of the town meeting.
Relatively undemocratic because most voters, particularly independents excluded.
Elitist as only the party elite get to participate
Very small number of people choose that state’s party nominee.
Campaigning in , because it’s the first caucus, very expensive.
Primary
A special election in which voters select candidates to be the party’s nominee for president in the general election.
More democratic as “average” registered voters chose that state’s delegates to the party convention.
Less elitist than caucuses.
Brings early exposure to candidates and issues.
Relatively expensive with regard to campaign and governmental administrative costs
Voting public generally doesn’t pay much attention to primary elections because they are so far from general election.
Voter turnout often very low in primary elections.
Closed Primary
Voters may vote in a party's primary only if they are registered members of that party
Relatively democratic as voters from that party go to the polls.
Only loyal members of that party get to vote for the party’s presidential nominee.
Prevents the other party from trying to influence the election (Ex: Dems can’t try to vote in the GOP primary for the candidate most likely to lose the general election)
Completely shuts out independent voters
Eliminates genuine crossover voting
Requires voters to declare their party affiliation when they register to vote
Open Primary
A registered voter may vote in any party primary regardless of his or her own party affiliation
Every registered voter regardless of party can vote
Most democratic method for choosing presidential nominees
Does not necessitate voters declaring a party affiliation when they register to vote
Political parties lose much of their control over who is nominated.
Opens the door for potential foul play from the opposing party
Voters who are not particularly invested in the political party get to select the delegates from that state.Slide25
STEP 2
Nominating Conventions
An assembly held by political parties every four years
Usually held in late summer before the general election in November
Party Platforms established
: A statement of principles and objectives a political party and a candidate supports in order to win the general election.
CNN Explains: Conventions
(Video)
FOX: How political conventions have changed over the years
(Video)2016 Highlights of the Democratic National Convention in Philly (Video)2016 Republican National Convention Day Two in a Minute (Video)Slide26
STEP 3 General Election
An act of Congress sets the day for presidential and congressional elections as
the Tuesday after the first Monday in November
.Slide27
STEP 4 Electoral College
Electors meet at their state capitols to cast their ballots
on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December
.
The President of the Senate (current Vice President) counts the electoral votes
on January 6, unless it falls on a Sunday
.
The new president and vice president are sworn into office
on January 20th
.VIDEO – Counting the Electoral VotesSlide28
How does it work?
Electors
“Winner-Take-All” system
awards all electors to the winning presidential candidate.
“Proportional Representation”
is used only in
Maine and Nebraska each have a
Maine (4) – state winner gets 2 Electors and the winner of the 2 Congressional districts receive that electoral voteNebraska (5) – state winner gets 2 Electors and the winner of the 3 Congressional districts receive that electoral voteCertificate of Ascertainment declares the winning presidential candidate in your state and is sent to Congress and the National Archives as part of the official records of the presidential election.Slide29
Who are electors?
Each candidate running for President in your state has his or her own group of electors.The electors are generally chosen by the candidate’s political party, but state laws vary on
how the electors are selected
and what their responsibilities are.
West Virginia holds a state convention where our electors are chosen the year before the election.
You help choose your state’s electors when you vote for President because when you vote for your candidate you are actually voting for your candidate’s electors.Slide30
ELECTORAL COLLEGE
:
SHOULD IT STAY OR SHOULD IT GO?
WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE?
SHOULD THE US ABOLISH THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE?Slide31
The President should be elected by popular vote
The Electoral College is undemocratic.
1824 John Q. Adams
1876 Rutherford B. Hayes
1888 Benjamin Harrison
2000 George W. Bush
2016 Donald Trump
The number of people represented in each state by each electoral vote varies, giving some states more power than other states in comparison to population.
The Founding Fathers’ fear of lettering people vote directly for president does not make sense in our modern democracy.
Public education and access to information about candidates.Supports Popular Vote Slide32
How much weight does your vote for president carry?
That depends where you live.
The Constitution gives each state the same number of electoral votes as representatives in Congress: 2 per state, plus an additional number based on population.
No state gets less than 3 electoral votes no matter how few people live there.
This leads to huge differences in the number of people represented by each electoral vote., People in the smallest states tend to have more voting power:
Electoral Votes Total Population People Per Electoral Vote Voting Power / Person
WY 3 563,626 187,875
.00053% of voteCA 55 37,253,956 677, 344 .00015% of vote
Supports Popular VoteSlide33
How much did your vote count in the 2016 election?
Population v Electoral Votes
Each states gets the same number of electoral votes as congressional seats
2008 data
“average state is awarded one electoral vote for every 565,166 people.”
Exceptions to average: “Wyoming has three electoral votes and only 532,668 citizens. Each of Wyoming’s 3 electoral votes corresponds to 177,556 people…these people have 3.18 times more clout in the Electoral College as an average American, or 318%.”
Supports Popular Vote
Slide34
The President should be elected by popular vote
3.
People in a state’s political minority have little incentive to vote.
States that are a majority of one party tend to discourage voters in the minority party from voting because they feel their vote won’t have an impact.
4.
The Electoral College system encourages presidential candidates to focus on a few states and ignore the rest.
2004 Article — from the Harvard Journal on Legislation
The campaigns spent 1% of their political advertising money in two-thirds of the states. Indeed, they spent no money at all in 23 states . . . . Meantime, fully 72% of all presidential campaign money was spent in five familiar battleground states: Florida, Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. It is well understood now that “most states are largely ignored even in close presidential races.”
Candidate Visits in 2008 0 Visits 14 States 1-5 Visits 18 States
9-19 Visits 16 States
27-29 Visits 2 States (OH and PA)
Supports Popular Vote
Slide35
The president should be elected through the electoral college system
The Electoral College has stood the test of time.
The Electoral College has existed as part of our Constitution for over 220 years. In that time, constitutional amendments to abolish or change the Electoral College have been proposed in Congress more than 700 times. Not one of those proposals has passed.
The US has had 58 peaceful elections (1789 – 2016).
Getting rid of the Electoral College would require an entirely new method of choosing the president.
SUPPORTS ELECTORAL COLLEGESlide36
The president should be elected through the electoral college system
3.
The Electoral College is democratic.
The Electoral College is a form of representative democracy just like Congress.
The Popular Vote in November decides which candidate should get the state’s electors.
4.
Without the Electoral College, candidates would be encouraged to focus only on large population centers.
Candidates pay attention to everyone in the state.
With a population of more than 8 million, New York City alone has more people than Nebraska, Idaho, West Virginia, Hawaii, Vermont, and Wyoming put together. Why would a candidate bother visiting any of those states when so many more people could be reached with a single trip to New York City?
SUPPORTS ELECTORAL COLLEGESlide37
UNEXPECTED ELECTION RESULTS:
You will be given a packet with election results for the following Presidential Elections:
1824 John Q. Adams
1876 Rutherford B. Hayes
1888 Benjamin Harrison
2000 George W. Bush
2016 Donald Trump
Assess the data and answer the questions for each election.Slide38
History of Presidential elections
Presidential Election History From 1789 to 2012
2016 Presidential ElectionSlide39
Should the
u.s
. keep the electoral college?
Write a paragraph in response.
Use at least 2 pieces of evidence to support your claim.