American Government and Politics (POLS 122)

Professor Jonathan Day

Outline 1. Electoral College

2. Next Class

The Electoral College Game

The Electoral College Game1. Each state is a game piece that can be won.

2. Each state has a particular value. Higher populous states are worth more.

3. You win the a game piece (a state) if you receive a plurality of the votes.

4. Plurality – the most votes out of all the candidates in an individual state

Any questions so far?

TexasDemocrats 44%

Republicans 56%

34

Democrats 0 Republicans 34

CaliforniaDemocrats 52%

Republicans 48%

55

Democrats 55 Republicans 34

MinnesotaDemocrats 48%

Republicans 44%

Independents 8%

10

Democrats 65 Republicans 34

MontanaDemocrats 47%

Republicans 53%

3

Democrats 65 Republicans 37

Democrats 365 Republicans 173

2008 Presidential Election

Barack Obama vs. John McCain

A Closer Look at the Electoral College

538 total electoral members in the College

Each State is guaranteed two electors plus one elector for every representative they have in Congress.

Therefore, the number of electors each state has is based on the state’s population size.

House of Representatives: 19

Senators: 2

Electoral Votes: 21

Some Examples

California - 55

Wyoming - 3

Iowa - 7

Florida - 27

D.C. - 3

Electoral College Votes

There are 538 total Electoral College Votes.

The candidate who gets a majority of the votes wins.

270 is a majority of the Electoral College Votes.

Next Class

Read Chapter 10, “The Electoral College” in

Fault Lines, by Friday

Discussion Post due by this Saturday “Should we keep the Electoral College system in electing

our president? Why or Why Not?”