The document provides an overview of the Electoral College system for electing the US President, including its historical origins, current functioning, and procedures for special situations. It was created as a compromise between electing the President by popular vote and by Congress. States receive electors based on population, and electors generally pledge to the candidate who wins the state's popular vote. The candidate who receives over half the total electoral votes wins.

1. The Electoral College, Part I: Functionality and Purpose

3. Introductory Activity: The Trouble with Voting This activity is designed to introduce students to three basic types of voting systems and initiate a discussion about their advantages and disadvantages, using a topic of high interest: candy. 1. List two popular, diverse candies, and explain that the class will vote for their favorite candy and receive the winning choice. Try using a fruit-flavored candy and a chocolate candy to represent the spectrum of possible choices. 2. Take a popular vote : Ask students to vote individually, by raising their hands. Tally the votes and note the winning choice as the “candy elect by popular vote.” Guidelines

4. 3. Now try a vote by representation : Split the class into uneven groups of 2 to 6 students each. From the results of the popular vote, form groups so that some have mostly supporters of one type of candy, while others have a nearly even mix of supporters of each candy. Choose one “representative” randomly from each group, and ask for that student's vote. Tally only these votes to find the winner, or "candy elect by representative vote." 4. Vote with an Electoral College system : Keep the students in groups and have each choose “Electors” to represent their votes. Groups of 4 or less students should have 2 Electors, and those with more should have 1 additional Elector (i.e., a group of 5 students has 3 Electors). Have each individual group vote for a candy and announce their choice to the class. The Trouble with Voting: Guidelines

5. The Trouble with Voting: Guidelines 4. Now, direct the Electors to cast their votes. Make it clear that electors should follow the choice of their group, but are ultimately able to make their own decision, under possible threat of retribution by their other group members. Tally the result and announce the winner as "candy elect by Electoral vote." 5. Point out that the Electoral College is the system used in the U.S. to choose the next President, and, if all goes well, offer the students the candy elect by the Electoral vote.

7. Introductory Video: "Electing a U.S. President in Plain English" This video contains a brief, easy-to-understand introduction to how the Electoral College works, so it is a good lead-in to this module.

14. Supplementary Material The Constitution: The website below has a copy of the full Constitution, with images of the primary source document and annotations: http ://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/constitution/constitution.htm LeFever, Lee. "Electing a U.S. President in Plain English." The Commoncraft Show . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ok_VQ8I7g6I