ELECTORAL COLLEGE
We do not directly elect our President
We choose representatives who become the Electoral College
This approach was written right into the Constitution: Article II Section I Clause 3
Current: There are 538 Electors
This number equals the number of Senators and House Representatives
100 Senators and 435 Representatives (plus 3 for DC)
A candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win the Presidency (since 1964)
State’s electors equal number of Members in US Congress
Each political party nominates Electors who
who pledge to vote for the party’s candidate
may not be Members of Congress or federal government employees
Popular vote decides which nominees become Electors
Electors meet in State capitals to vote
President
Vice President
Electors ALMOST always vote for the candidate to whom they pledged
Joint session of Congress counts & confirms votes
If no candidate gets 270 votes
House of Representatives chooses Adams (1824)
Number of electors is proportional to the state’s population measured every 10 years
Disadvantages
Can give individual votes unequal weight
CA population is 39M people - 55 electors. RI population is 1M - 4 electors For equal clout, CA would have to have 156 electors - 3 times as many
Works poorly when there is a very small margin of victory within individual state
Tends to favor a two-party system
Candidates who receive more popular votes can lose the election
It’s not a perfect system, but it’s the one we have right now