Elections and VotingElections and Voting Elections and VotingElections and Voting

Chapter 17Chapter 17

I. Election Campaigns• National elections are held

every two years • All members of the House of

Representatives are elected • 1/3rd of the Senate is elected

every two years

A. Electing the President

•Election Day – First Tuesday after the first Monday in November

•Electoral College – People from each state who actually elect the president

• Number of electors is equal to the number of Senators and Representatives from each state + for D.C.

• 270 – Number of electoral votes a candidate must win to become president

• If a candidate wins the 11 largest states they become the next president

B. Original System

• Founders did not want common people voting for the president

• Believed they were uneducated and uninformed

• In early elections no popular vote was even counted – Electors got to vote for two people

• Person who received the most voted became president

• Runner-up became vice-president – Problem?

• Twelfth Amendment (1804) – Electors cast separate votes for the president and vice president

• If no candidate receives a majority of electoral votes, the House chooses the next president

C. Electoral College Today• Popular vote in each state determines

who win the electoral votes• Winner-Takes-All – Party that

receives the most votes receives all electoral votes of that state

• Nebraska and Maine are the only exceptions to this rule

• Candidates who win the popular vote are not guaranteed to win the presidency

NO Way vs. It’s Time

Presidents Who Lost the Popular Vote

•John Quincy Adams (1824)•Rutherford B. Hayes (1876)•Benjamin Harrison (1888)•George W. Bush (2000)

I like the Electoral College how about

You?

D. Financing Campaigns

• 2008 – 4.7 billion dollars were spent by the presidential and congressional candidates – Most in US history!

• Each individuals is only allowed to donate $2000 dollars to a candidate

• Soft Money – Money raised by a political party for a general purpose – not directly given to a candidate – NO LIMIT

• Political Action Committees – (PACs) – Organizations established by interest groups to support candidates

Question• What controls, if any, do you think

should be placed on the financing and running of election campaigns?