The Electoral College
The Electoral College -
President = not voted for by the popular vote , but through the electoral college
o 2000 Gore won the popular vote , but George W. Bush won the Electoral College
How it works
Historical anachronism – states decide how to elect their electors
Federal matter (STATES) – they decide how to elect Electoral College
o SWING STATES - Ohio , Florida , Virginia
o South is more socially conservative – they choose Republicans after the War and Segregation
o If majority of the state (people) vote for democrats then all of the States DELEGATES have to vote for democrats
- Each state is awarded a certain number of Electoral College votes
o Number = states representation in Congress
§ 2 Senators + Representatives
§ EG: 2012 Wyoming had (2 + 1)
§ EG: California had 55 (2 +53)
o If in a smaller state – they have more influence
o 538 EC votes
o TO WIN PRESIDENCY THERE MUST BE AN ABSOLUTE MAJORITY
o Popular vote for each candidate are counted in each state – except 2
o On an individual vote on a Ballot paper there is the candidate name
o Whichever candidate gets most popular votes = ‘winner-takes-all’ rule
§ Rule is not in the constitution = A CONVENTION
§ Except in Maine and Nebraska
o EC never meet together
§ Members = ‘ Electors’ meet on the third Monday in DEC
§ They sent their results to the V-P
· The VP counts the EC votes and gives the results to Congress in January
· EG: 2001 VP Gore announced his own defeat to George W Bush (271 – 266)
o If no candidate wins an ABSOLUTE MAJ ?
§ President would be elected by the House Of Reps from the 3 pres candidates with most EC votes
· Each state = 1 vote
· Winner = 26/50 (Ab Maj)
§ Ballots would carry on until a absolute
· At the same time the VP would be chosen through the Senate
o 2 VP nominees with popular vote – Ab Maj as well
o ONLY 2 TIMES THERE HASN’T BEEN AN ABSOLUTE MAJORITY IN THE EC
§ 1800 & 1824
Strengths of the Electoral College
- Preserves the voice of the small-population states
o Small pop states worried that their votes would have been worthless without the EC compared to the bigger states
§ BIG = Cali / Texas / NY/ Florida
o In the 1st presidential election – only 13 states took place
§ Small states = 3 votes
§ Big states had 12
- Promotes a two - horse race
o President= chief executive & head of state - Symbol of national unity
§ Two horse race = winner will have more than 50% of the popular vote (uniting the nation)
§ 1864 – 2012 elections – 2/3 winner gained more than 50% of the popular vote
§ 3/12 times = no 50%
· 1992/1996/2000
Weaknesses of the Electoral College
- Small states are over-represented
o 2012 Cali = 55 votes for 37 million people / Wyoming = 3 for 500,000
- Winner –takes-all system distorts the result
o 1996 Bill Clinton won 49% of popular won & won over 70% EC votes
o 1972 – 2012 EC distorted results 8 times
§ Not in 2000 and 2004
§ 2012 – Obama = 51% of popular vote / 61.7% EC
o Same as if the candidate wins most of the popular vote but loses the EC
§ 2000 Al gore – 48.8% popular vote v 48% to Bush but Bush won
- Unfair to national third parties
o 1980 Congressman John Anderson = running as independent = 6.6% of popular vote
o Ross Perot 1992 = 18.9% pop vote
§ NONE OF THESE EVEN GOT AN ELECTORAL COLLEGE VOTE
§ Perot 1992 – in Mississippi he didn’t get 10% pop vote but in Maine he got 30% pop vote
o 1968 George Wallace won 13.5% pop vote – he managed to get 45 EC votes
- Rogue Electors
o States have electors that have ballots for state – wide popular vote winners – OTHERS = open to ‘rogues’
o 7/13 this has happened
§ Washington Elector refused to have her EC vote for Gore in protest
§ 2004 – Minnesota elector voted for John Edwards (and spelt his name wrong)
o 2008 there were no Rogue Electors will Obama – he got 365 electoral votes and 173 for John McCain
- President and VP’s of different parties
o It didn’t matter if the VP and president were of different parties (AT THE START)
§ = a result of the EC deadlock
o 2000 = possible that the House of Reps could have chosen George W Bush as pres and Senate Joseph Lieberman (Dem) as VP
Possible Reforms - Many reforms have been suggested
- Major reform requires a constitutional amendment – unlikely to happen
Congressional district system
- If the 48 other states had Maine and Nebraska’s system (awarding 1 vote to the EC from each district)
o 2008 Nebraska – split 5 EC votes – McCain won the state but Obama won 2nd District
- This reform would make results marginally different
o 2000 Maine system would have been less proportionate result
A proportional system
- Allocating EC votes in each state proportional than popular votes in the state
o More equable share of votes
o System = fair to third parties
- Means there would be no candidate that gets a absolute majority
Direct Election
- Americans support the view of a directly elected president
- ‘Direct Election Plan’
- Centre for voting and democracy
o After 2000 election 61% favoured direct election
- Only constitutional amendment can make the reform happen – BUT SUCCESS = UNLIKELY.
VIDEO: How it works - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUS9mM8Xbbw
Shows that if you win more than half majority you’re more likely to win
Also if people are not in states but are Americans they’re not allowed to vote because they are not a state and a CA needs to be passed for them to be able to vote.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHK1-LA8zEU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHK1-LA8zEU
VERY CONTROVERSY GORE GOT THE POPULAR VOTE IN BUT BUSH GOT 5 VOTES MORE IN THE EC – Bush had gained Florida The swing state , but It was questioned because his brother was governor of Florida
SHOULD IT BE REFORMED? YES / NO
- Popular votes are more significant but EC votes undermines the popular vote , not democratic
o BUT of under a popular vote if there was votes under 50% there wouldn’t be a mandate to claim – claim authority to govern the people
o Proportional arguments don’t come into it , a candidate cannot be made up of different party
o BUT it exaggerated the margin of victory – 2000 Gore v Bush – SHOWS DEMOCRACY NOT WORKING
§ GORE – 48.4%
§ BUSH - 47.9%
§ NADER – 2.8% - green party could have split with the dems and Gore would have won – took dem votes away
o Only happened once in the past 100 years so it works majority of the time
§ ALSO elections = 10th Amendment federalism – other matters should be ran by the states Elections is part of it so there will have to be a Constitutional amendment passed to change it congress cannot pass legislation - UNLIKELY TO BE PASSED
o CREATES battlegrounds – candidates only fight for swing states and not the whole nation – so much money and time is spent there and other states are neglected
This is undemocratic because they’re not seeking other people’s attention who they are going to be acting on behalf off – BUT if the EC was taken away there may be focuses on city voters , but the existence enforces candidates to appeal to groups in states rather than individuals, Win across the united states
President = not voted for by the popular vote , but through the electoral college
o 2000 Gore won the popular vote , but George W. Bush won the Electoral College
How it works
Historical anachronism – states decide how to elect their electors
Federal matter (STATES) – they decide how to elect Electoral College
o SWING STATES - Ohio , Florida , Virginia
o South is more socially conservative – they choose Republicans after the War and Segregation
o If majority of the state (people) vote for democrats then all of the States DELEGATES have to vote for democrats
- Each state is awarded a certain number of Electoral College votes
o Number = states representation in Congress
§ 2 Senators + Representatives
§ EG: 2012 Wyoming had (2 + 1)
§ EG: California had 55 (2 +53)
o If in a smaller state – they have more influence
o 538 EC votes
o TO WIN PRESIDENCY THERE MUST BE AN ABSOLUTE MAJORITY
o Popular vote for each candidate are counted in each state – except 2
o On an individual vote on a Ballot paper there is the candidate name
o Whichever candidate gets most popular votes = ‘winner-takes-all’ rule
§ Rule is not in the constitution = A CONVENTION
§ Except in Maine and Nebraska
o EC never meet together
§ Members = ‘ Electors’ meet on the third Monday in DEC
§ They sent their results to the V-P
· The VP counts the EC votes and gives the results to Congress in January
· EG: 2001 VP Gore announced his own defeat to George W Bush (271 – 266)
o If no candidate wins an ABSOLUTE MAJ ?
§ President would be elected by the House Of Reps from the 3 pres candidates with most EC votes
· Each state = 1 vote
· Winner = 26/50 (Ab Maj)
§ Ballots would carry on until a absolute
· At the same time the VP would be chosen through the Senate
o 2 VP nominees with popular vote – Ab Maj as well
o ONLY 2 TIMES THERE HASN’T BEEN AN ABSOLUTE MAJORITY IN THE EC
§ 1800 & 1824
Strengths of the Electoral College
- Preserves the voice of the small-population states
o Small pop states worried that their votes would have been worthless without the EC compared to the bigger states
§ BIG = Cali / Texas / NY/ Florida
o In the 1st presidential election – only 13 states took place
§ Small states = 3 votes
§ Big states had 12
- Promotes a two - horse race
o President= chief executive & head of state - Symbol of national unity
§ Two horse race = winner will have more than 50% of the popular vote (uniting the nation)
§ 1864 – 2012 elections – 2/3 winner gained more than 50% of the popular vote
§ 3/12 times = no 50%
· 1992/1996/2000
Weaknesses of the Electoral College
- Small states are over-represented
o 2012 Cali = 55 votes for 37 million people / Wyoming = 3 for 500,000
- Winner –takes-all system distorts the result
o 1996 Bill Clinton won 49% of popular won & won over 70% EC votes
o 1972 – 2012 EC distorted results 8 times
§ Not in 2000 and 2004
§ 2012 – Obama = 51% of popular vote / 61.7% EC
o Same as if the candidate wins most of the popular vote but loses the EC
§ 2000 Al gore – 48.8% popular vote v 48% to Bush but Bush won
- Unfair to national third parties
o 1980 Congressman John Anderson = running as independent = 6.6% of popular vote
o Ross Perot 1992 = 18.9% pop vote
§ NONE OF THESE EVEN GOT AN ELECTORAL COLLEGE VOTE
§ Perot 1992 – in Mississippi he didn’t get 10% pop vote but in Maine he got 30% pop vote
o 1968 George Wallace won 13.5% pop vote – he managed to get 45 EC votes
- Rogue Electors
o States have electors that have ballots for state – wide popular vote winners – OTHERS = open to ‘rogues’
o 7/13 this has happened
§ Washington Elector refused to have her EC vote for Gore in protest
§ 2004 – Minnesota elector voted for John Edwards (and spelt his name wrong)
o 2008 there were no Rogue Electors will Obama – he got 365 electoral votes and 173 for John McCain
- President and VP’s of different parties
o It didn’t matter if the VP and president were of different parties (AT THE START)
§ = a result of the EC deadlock
o 2000 = possible that the House of Reps could have chosen George W Bush as pres and Senate Joseph Lieberman (Dem) as VP
Possible Reforms - Many reforms have been suggested
- Major reform requires a constitutional amendment – unlikely to happen
Congressional district system
- If the 48 other states had Maine and Nebraska’s system (awarding 1 vote to the EC from each district)
o 2008 Nebraska – split 5 EC votes – McCain won the state but Obama won 2nd District
- This reform would make results marginally different
o 2000 Maine system would have been less proportionate result
A proportional system
- Allocating EC votes in each state proportional than popular votes in the state
o More equable share of votes
o System = fair to third parties
- Means there would be no candidate that gets a absolute majority
Direct Election
- Americans support the view of a directly elected president
- ‘Direct Election Plan’
- Centre for voting and democracy
o After 2000 election 61% favoured direct election
- Only constitutional amendment can make the reform happen – BUT SUCCESS = UNLIKELY.
VIDEO: How it works - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUS9mM8Xbbw
Shows that if you win more than half majority you’re more likely to win
Also if people are not in states but are Americans they’re not allowed to vote because they are not a state and a CA needs to be passed for them to be able to vote.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHK1-LA8zEU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHK1-LA8zEU
VERY CONTROVERSY GORE GOT THE POPULAR VOTE IN BUT BUSH GOT 5 VOTES MORE IN THE EC – Bush had gained Florida The swing state , but It was questioned because his brother was governor of Florida
SHOULD IT BE REFORMED? YES / NO
- Popular votes are more significant but EC votes undermines the popular vote , not democratic
o BUT of under a popular vote if there was votes under 50% there wouldn’t be a mandate to claim – claim authority to govern the people
o Proportional arguments don’t come into it , a candidate cannot be made up of different party
o BUT it exaggerated the margin of victory – 2000 Gore v Bush – SHOWS DEMOCRACY NOT WORKING
§ GORE – 48.4%
§ BUSH - 47.9%
§ NADER – 2.8% - green party could have split with the dems and Gore would have won – took dem votes away
o Only happened once in the past 100 years so it works majority of the time
§ ALSO elections = 10th Amendment federalism – other matters should be ran by the states Elections is part of it so there will have to be a Constitutional amendment passed to change it congress cannot pass legislation - UNLIKELY TO BE PASSED
o CREATES battlegrounds – candidates only fight for swing states and not the whole nation – so much money and time is spent there and other states are neglected
This is undemocratic because they’re not seeking other people’s attention who they are going to be acting on behalf off – BUT if the EC was taken away there may be focuses on city voters , but the existence enforces candidates to appeal to groups in states rather than individuals, Win across the united states