The Electoral College

1. The Electoral
College

2. When you vote for the
President you are
actually voting for an
ELECTOR to vote for you
Each state has a
determined number of
electors

3. Original Plans….
• Electors were chosen by:
• State legislatures or direct popular voting
• Each elector exercised independent judgment
• Tickets (VP & President) did not exist, so candidates were not
paired together
• Changed w/ 12th
Amendment
• System as designed would rarely produce a winner
• Meaning presidential elections would be decided in Congress

4. Modern System
• Since the Civil War, all states

5. A state’s number of
electors is the total
number of Senators and
Representatives in the
House
Nebraska
2 senators
3 representatives
Total 5 electors

8. There are a total of 538
electoral votes
The District of
Columbia is not a
state, but is given
3 electoral votes
[23rd
Amendment,
1961]

9. 48 out of the 50 states
have a “winner-takes-
all” method
If you get the most
votes in that state you
get ALL of their
electoral college votes

10. 2 states are different and can
divide up their votes based on
congressional district -
Nebraska and Maine
Called the “congressional
district method”

12. A candidate must have 270
electoral votes to win the
Presidential election
270=50% +1 Vote

13. If no single candidate gets
the required 270 electoral
votes then the House of
Representatives votes to
pick a president

14. It is possible to get more
votes overall in the election
from the entire country and
NOT be elected President
Happened in 2000 with Gore
vs Bush
Also happened in 1824, 1876,
& 1888

15. Total Votes in 2000 Election:
Bush 50,461,092 total
votes
(47.9%)
271 Electoral Votes
Gore 50,994,086 total
votes
(48.4%)
266 Electoral Votes
Nader 2,882,728 total

17. Questions to Consider
• Why did the
Founding Fathers
create an Electoral
College?
• How is the
establishment of the
Electoral College
reflective of the
thinking from the
time period (1787)?
• Is this system still
valid today?
• Would a popular
election make more
sense?