Electoral College Map

Where is California? Where is Florida? Where is New York? Where is Texas? Where is North Carolina?

Congress Review (Under Important Information)

House of Representatives Senate

Word Box:Based on population 100 people

Equal representation by state 435 people 2 per state

I. Electoral College Background

a. Electoral College=group of representatives who elect the President and the VP

-We vote for an ELECTOR to vote for the candidate we want

-Fill in the blanks:This means that the American public

(DOES/DOESN’T) actually vote for the President and the VP in the (PRIMARY/GENERAL) election

b. Number of Electors Per State=# of Representatives + # of Senators (from HoR)

-Note: Electors are NOT the same people as Senators and Representatives!

3.Electoral College MathState # of Reps # of

Senators# of

Electors

NC13 2

CO7 2

CA55

WY3

3.Electoral College MathState # of Reps # of

Senators# of

Electors

NC13 2 15

CO7 2 9

CA53 2 55

WY1 2 3

4. Why does CA have so many Electors? Why does WY have so few?

c. There are 538 total Electors…HOW? 435 + 100 + 3 = 538

US Reps Senators ?Electors

d. President must get 270 electoral votes to WIN

5. Where do the 3 “extra votes” come from? Think about the 23rd amendment…

6. True or False: Electoral College members are the same people as Senators and Representatives ______________________

II. How Do Electors Choose?a. First: Regular people vote for who they want to

be President in the general election -This is called the popular vote because the

whole USA votes for who they want to be president.

7. When do American voters make the popular vote?

8. REVIEW: Fill in the chart below for each political party.

Left Right

Party

Party Animal

Liberal or Conservative?

Color

Left Right

Party Democrat Republican

Party Animal Donkey Elephant

Liberal or Conservative?

Liberal Conservative

Color Blue Red

b. Second: The popular vote is calculated in each state separately and the “winner takes all” of the electoral votes for the state

-Winner takes all: The candidate who wins the majority of the votes in a state wins all of that state’s electoral college votes.

-Winner Take All: In each state, the candidate with the MOST popular votes will win (SOME/ALL) of the electoral vote*

9. Examples of Winner Take All: State Popular Vote

Obama McCainElectoral

VoteNC 50% 49%

CO 54% 45%

CA 43% 57%

SC 45% 54%

10. Quick Question: Why do the percentages NOT add up to 100% for each state above?

11. *What two states are an exception to the “winner takes all” approach? What does this mean?

NebraskaMaine

-The winner does not need a majority; he just needs a plurality of votes.

-Plurality=Receive the most number

of votes

-Majority=Receive at least 50% of vote

12. Plurality v. Majority

Candidate A Candidate B P or M: Who Wins60% 40%

45% 20%

70% 10%

33% 32%

c. Third: The Electoral votes are added up across the country

-The candidate who gets the majority (over 50%) of the Electoral Votes

becomes the President!

13. REVIEW: Fill in the chart below:

How many electoral votes are there total?

How many must a presidential candidate win to get a majority?

IV. Polls-how we measure public

opinion and see what people think people fill out a survey

-Exit polls=surveys we give to people after they vote see who they voted for

14. Why do we give exit polls? 15. Does everyone take an exit poll after voting?