She began a study of the electoral college for a friend more than a decade ago, and has continued to study it, and teach about it since. In defense of the electoral college national affairs. Reform proposals in the 108th congress, by thomas h. The electoral college system 882000, adapted from a pamphlet published by the league of women voters education fund in 1980 every four years, the electoral college, a little known feature of our constitution, enjoys a. How it works in contemporary presidential elections, by thomas h. Ap united states government and politics 2007 scoring. This indirect election system, called the electoral college and devised in 1787 by the. Ap united states government and politics 2015 free. Nov 06, 2016 typically, the electoral college meets and does its thing a month or so after the election, and few people even notice or care. Crash course in our dysfunctional electoral college. For some of us, the electoral college process and its outcome may seem a bit shocking.
Basically, they were trying to find a balance between giving the national government the power protect and govern their people, while keeping a. Nov 07, 2011 how the electoral college works cgp grey. Exploring the effects on the electoral college of national and. The electoral college is a national issue that is still debated. The electoral college is not a college at all but electors chosen from each state. They had several options to choose from, including allowing the people to choose a direct popular vote, allowing the states to choose, or allowing congress to choose. The electoral college isnt a perfect system, and with two of the past five presidential elections going to the candidate who didnt win the popular vote, calls to abolish the centuriesold system. What should be done with the electoral collegekeep it, reform it, or replace it with something different. For further information, please consult crs report rl32611, the electoral college. How the electoral college works in 6 minutes youtube. How it works in contemporary presidential elections congressional research service summary when americans vote for a president and vice president, they are actually choosing presidential electors, known collectively as the electoral college. They could run the numbers as well as anyone, and realized. In the fall, in each state, each party on the ballot chooses persons to be electors pledged to vote for particular candidates when the electors meet in mid.
Dont trash the electoral college it works investors. Recently she was asked to contribute an article on the electoral college to a major work on the american government. The candidate that gets more than half 270 wins the election. Volume 4, issue 3 should the electoral college count. The sneaky plan to subvert the electoral college for the next election duration. Neale specialist in american national government may 15, 2017 congressional research service 75700. The electoral college is the system that dictates how our next president is elected. This video gives a short overview of the electoral college and what roles it serves in u. The electoral college every four years, the american voters cast their ballots for president.
Nov 03, 2016 how the electoral college works, and why we have one duration. Jan 06, 2006 some argue the electoral college system gives power to minority groups by allowing a relatively small number of voters in each state to make a difference in determining which candidate gets that. How the electoral college works by phyllis naegeli. About six weeks after the long grind of the presidential election is over, the 538 members of the. When the voters mark their ballots for the candidate of their choice, they are also selecting a group of people called electors. They created the electoral college to protect the residents of the smaller states, and they rejected government by simple majority. The electoral college is a group of people that elects the president and the vice president of the united states. Others argue the electoral college maintains the federal system of government, which was designed to reserve such important political powers to the states as making a choice for the presidency and. Still, the two systems are similar in design and share many of the same advantages and disadvantages. How it works in contemporary presidential elections congressional research service 2 of this eventuality, which occurred previously in 1876, 1888, and 2000. How the electoral college works and why it works well. This system influences the campaign strategies of presidential candidates.
Some say the electoral college is key to maintaining whats good about u. As the election draws near, the news is filled with mentions of the electoral college. Back in the day, our founding fathers spent weeks in unairconditioned rooms trying to figure out how to run their new country. The electoral college is administered by the office of the federal register, which is part of the national archives and records administration nara. She works to make it interesting for adults and students of all ages. The working paper version of this paper also analyzes the allocation of tv. The current workings of the electoral college are the result of both design and experience.
Once in a while, though, people do notice and do care a lot. For many of those who do not understand how the electoral college works, it may. The constitution sets out the way the electoral college works, with little direction about who can. Each elector casts one electoral vote following the general election. Ultimately, the electoral college contributed to ending slavery, since abraham lincoln, having earned only 39. It is important to note that the electoral college is not a place but a process. Explaining how the electoral college works national. Each state is allocated a number of electors equal. Dont trash the electoral college it works presidentelect donald trump was against the electoral college before he was for it. Why the electoral college is bad for america on jstor.
Basically, this is the electoral college, by a dummy, for dummies. How it works in contemporary presidential elections thomas h. Nov 09, 2016 the electoral college is a group of people that elects the president and the vice president of the united states. Oct 18, 2016 the electoral college has 538 members, and each state has the same number of electors as it does house and senate seats. When you vote for the president of the united states of america you are in fact voting for somebody to cast your vote in your place. It also explains why a candidate can win the popular vote but not actually win the election, which is what happened in the 2016 presidential election. Each state has electors equal to the number of senators two for each state and representatives based on population they have in congress. This election result is sometimes referred to, particularly by proponents of electoral college reform, as a wrong. How the electoral college works the current workings of the electoral college are the result of both design and experience. In 2016, donald trump won the electoral vote 304 to clintons 227, while his opponent, hillary clinton, won the popular vote 65,853,514 to trumps 62,94,828. Pdf almost every american has either studied something about the.
But it was also a very clever one when you consider that the whole operation was supposed to work without political parties and without national campaigns while. Constitution as a compromise for the presidential election process. Every four years, on the tuesday after the first monday of november, millions of u. A major difference between this paper and earlier work is the complete integration of. Exploring the electoral college overview in this lesson, students will learn about the history and structure of the electoral college. The fec has no jurisdiction over the electoral college. When dealing with issues concerning the electoral college, many people get confused. The voters of each state, and the district of columbia, vote for electors to be the authorized constitutional members in a presidential election. Halls class wonders, how does the electoral college work. The electoral college process is used to select the president and vice president of the united states. When voters go to the polls on tuesday, they will be choosing which candidate receives their states electors. Number of representatives elected president slate of party electors.
In 57 presidential elections, the final electoral college vote has. How the electoral college works election assistance commission. Lets take a look at the pros and cons of the electoral college. In the electoral college system, each state gets a certain number of electors based on its total number of representatives in congress. Contrary to popular belief, when you or i go to the polls to vote, we are not actually voting for a. The national archives and records administration nara is the federal agency responsible for coordinating activities of states and congress regarding the electoral college vote for president. Nov, 2000 how the electoral college works and why it works well. At the constitutional convention of 1787, they had to devise a system of electing a chief executive. Critics of the electoral college system say these elections are proof the system needs to be reformed or abolished.
Dec 20, 2017 the electoral college is administered by the office of the federal register, which is part of the national archives and records administration nara. The word college in this case simply refers to an organized body of people. It is these officials who choose the president and vice president of the united states. The electoral college delaware department of elections. The fundamental concern with the electoral college is its representational unreliability. The electoral college means that swing states which arent necessarily the most representative of the country as a whole get most of the attention. It is the subject of a lot of controversy as some people approve of the system, but for various reasons, many dont. Nov 16, 2010 she works to make it interesting for adults and students of all ages. Before we can evaluate the electoral college, we must understand how it works. Pdf todays electoral college and the one created by the. The electors are neither compelled by federal election laws nor the constitution to vote for their partys candidate. The primary purpose of this section is to show that the ecs representational unreliability is a direct consequence of our undersized house of representatives.
How the electoral college influences campaigns and policy. That did not work very well, so today the president and vicepresident are elected on separate ballots. April 2nd pols 1100 persuasive essay electoral college. The popular election every fourth november is only the first step in a complex procedure that should culminate in the formal declaration of a winner two months later. Jan 17, 2020 how the electoral college works the electoral college system was established in article ii of the constitution and was amended by the 12th amendment in 1804. And even within swing states, certain counties are more competitive than others and voters in those counties are courted particularly hard. The framers created the electoral college to elect the president of the united states. Neale, and crs report rl32612, the electoral college. The electoral college is the brainchild of the founders of the united states. How the electoral college works the electoral college system was established in article ii of the constitution and was amended by the 12th amendment in 1804. A directory of resources for better understanding of the electoral college and its history. Lowdown post and watching the video how the electoral college works.
These ideas of the founding fathers work together with the following two new. Students will view a video about the structure of the electoral college, learn about north carolinas importance in the 2016 presidential election, and participate in an electoral college simulation. Over the years, the electoral college has been much derided, including by its most recent beneficiary. The electoral college was created by the framers of the u. At the time, some politicians believed a purely popular election was too reckless and would give too much voting power to highly populated areas in which people were familiar with a presidential candidate. When americans vote for a president and vice president, they actually vote for presidential electors, known collectively as the electoral college. The electoral college plays a very important role in todays elections. The founding fathers established it in the constitution, in part, as a compromise between the election of the president by a vote in congress and election of the president by a popular vote of qualified citizens. How it works in contemporary presidential elections congressional research service rl32611 version 15 updated 1 introduction the president and vice president of the united states are chosen indirectly by a group of persons. How does the electoral college work, and is it fair. The original purpose of the electoral college was to reconcile differing state and federal interests, provide a degree of popular participation in the election, give the less populous states some additional leverage in the process by providing senatorial electors. The pros and cons of the electoral college smartasset.
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