Electoral College

True or False?

The candidate with the most votes is elected president.

Answer: Not necessarily. Ask Al Gore.

The 2000 Election

The Popular VoteAl Gore 50,996,039George W. Bush 50,456,141

The Electoral VoteGeorge W. Bush 271Al Gore 267

Historical Background• The framers of the Constitution disagreed on how

to elect a president—congressional selection or direct popular election.

• The electoral college was a compromise, combining features of both approaches.

The Electoral College and Federalism

The electoral college also reflects the federal nature of the Constitution because it ensures that the states have a role in selecting the president.

State Electoral VotesEach state is entitled to as many electoral votes as the sum of its representation in the U.S. House and Senate

Texas: 32 House members plus 2 senators = 34 electoral votes

Arkansas: 4 House members plus 2 senators = 6 electoral votes

Total: 435 House members plus 100 senators plus 3 electors for the District of Columbia = 538 electoral votes

Electors

• Individuals selected in each state to officially cast that state’s electoral votes.

• Texas selects 34 electors to cast the state’s 34 electoral votes.• Framers anticipated that electors would be state leaders who

would exercise good judgment.• Today, party leaders select competing slates of electors who

are typically long-time party activists.• Electors almost always vote for their party’s candidates.

I. Time Schedule

1. early Nov electors are chosen be each state = election day

2. Mid Dec – (first Monday after 2nd wed in Dec) electors meet in their state and cast ballots for Pres and VP

3. Jan 6 – electoral college votes are opened and counted before a Joint Session of Congress

4. Jan 20th – Pres-elect and VP-elect are sworn into office.

II. How are electors Appointed?

-there are a total of 538 electors (each state allocated a number of electors based on size of population with a min of 3 electors – like their Congressional delegation)

-electors are chosen by popular vote within each state

-can be chosen by general ticket or winner take all system (this means that you only have to win a plurality of a state popular votes to control the total of the electoral college seats)

- each state legis. determined how the state shall select their electors

-can be done on a statewide or district basis

. Resolution of Disputed Appointments?

-Constitution requires that disputes concerning appointment of electors have to be resolved by the states themselves.

– FLORIDA 2000 and US Sup CT????

IV. How States Appoint their Electors?There are 3 aspects to this question that we need to examine.1. How are the candidates for EC electors nominated?

2. Whether the names of the EC electors candidates are on the ballot in Nov?

3. Whether the electors are bound to vote in the EC for the nominees of their parties.

1. How are the candidates for Electoral College electors nominated?The answer to this is: it is determined by state law. (SO THIS IS

SUBJECT TO CHANGE!)

- 29 states the electors are nominated at the state party conventions (TX)

- 6 states and DC electors are nominated by the state party central committee

-12 states let the parties do whatever they want = no state law determining the process

-CA – Democrats choose electors by having each Democratic nominee for US House designate 1 potential elector and each of the 2 most recent Sen. candidates designate 1 elector. Republicans use the most recent nominees for the state constitutional offices (Gov, LT Gov etc) as well as for Sen. and the party leaders each designated electors

- Penn. – national Presidential nominee for each party designates potential electors

-Wisc. – each of the party’s holdover members of the House and Sen. get together and nominate potential electors

2. Names on the Ballots?-42 states and DC use a Presidential short ballot

-names do not appear on ballot

-a vote for the candidate is considered a vote for the EC list

-THIS IS WHERE A GREAT DEAL OF THE POPULAR CONFUSION COMES IN!

-rest of the states print the names of all EC nominees under the candidates with whom they are affiliated. These tend to be states with few Electoral College seats.

3. Bound Electors?-24 states have no binding requirements = EC members can vote for

whomever they like with no legal repercussions.

-26 & DC have binding requirements

-NOTE: just because there are requirements does not stop the elector from voting for whomever they want. They can and the vote still counts. It is only upon returning home that they get in “trouble”. The greatest fine for an Electoral College member breaking their binding requirement = $1000. In most states no penalty (as of 7/1/2002).

This gives us a way of discussing elector’s behaviors:1. “faithful elector” = is bound by state law or party rule to vote for their

party’s Pres and VP candidate and does so.2. “faithless elector” = is bound by state law or party rule to vote for their

party’s Pres and VP candidate and does NOT do so.3. “unpledged elector” = elector from a state with no binding requirement.

CANNOT BE FAITHLESS!

**** The way we select EC electors for independent or minor party Pres candidates (i.e. Ross Perot) varies by state.

-usually the names of the potential electors are required when the candidate goes thru the process of getting their name on the ballot = so candidate controls their Electoral College list

V. How are the ballots Cast?

-the electors meet in Dec in their own states and cast 1 ballot for Pres and 1 for VP

-they cannot vote for both pres and vp from their own state

-the votes are recorded on a state certificate which is sealed and sent to the Pres of the US Senate (sent by registered mail)

VI. How are the Electoral College Votes Counted?

-the person with the majority of EC votes = president-same rule for VP

-the Pres of the Senate opens and reads the state certificates before a

joint session of Congress. He then asks for objections

-objections must be submitted in writing and signed by 1 member of the House and 1 member of the Sen.

-once objections have been filed, each chamber retires to consider the validity of the charges

VII. What if no one has a majority?

1. If no clear Pres winner – then House chooses from the top 3 Pres candidates (top in terms of the number of EC votes obtained)

-the votes in the House are taken by states, with each state having 1 vote

-House rules determine the procedure for casting of votes

2. If no clear winner for VP – then the Sen. chooses from the top 2 vote getters for VP

-each member of the Sen. casts 1 vote

3. If there is a clear winner for Pres but not VP (or other way around) then only the 1 chamber will have business to do

VIII. What if there is no winner by inauguration day?

-If there is no clear winner for Pres by inauguration day most likely we would swear in the VP-elect as VP then temporarily bump him/her up to Pres until we could resolve the prob.

-If there were no clear winner for Pres or VP then we would most likely swear in the Speaker of the House (next in line of succession)

-we do know that the outgoing Pres cannot simply stay on until the problem is resolved!

IX. What if the major party candidate dies or resigns?In a nutshell it depends on when they die/resign. But remember they are

PARTY representatives only. The people voted for the Electoral College members and it is up to the EC as party members to choose the Pres and VP.

-if the candidate dies/resigns before the Electoral College electors meet then the party national committee would simply select a new candidate and it would be up to the Electoral College members to vote for them or not.

-if the candidate dies/resigns between election day and when the Electoral College meets the party would probably do the same.

-if they die/resign between Electoral College meeting and opening of ballots, it would be left to the House or Senate

Popular Vote v. the Electoral Vote

In a close race, the popular vote winner may not win the electoral college. One candidate may win states by lopsided margins while the other wins states by narrow margins. One candidate may be helped by winning most of the smaller states, which benefit from the small-state bias caused by each state getting at least three electoral votes regardless of its size.

Electoral vote winners who lost the popular vote• Bush over Gore in 2000• Benjamin Harrison over Grover Cleveland in 1888• Rutherford B. Hayes over Samuel Tilden in 1876

Small State Bias

• Today each member of the House represents 703,709 people. 1789=40,000

• N. Dakota: 672,991• Wyoming: 563,626• Vermont: 625,741

Criticisms of the Electoral College

• The popular vote winner may lose the presidency.

• Electors may vote for persons other than their party’s presidential and vice presidential candidates.

• If no candidate receives a majority, Congress will pick the president and vice president.

Political Legitimacy

Political legitimacy is the popular acceptance of a government and its officials as rightful authorities in the exercise of power.

Political Legitimacy and the Electoral College

The proponents of the electoral college believe that it conveys legitimacy to the winner in most closely fought presidential elections. For example, Bill Clinton won 69 percent of the electoral vote in 1992 despite capturing only 43 percent of the popular vote. The electoral college gave Clinton the appearance of the majority support necessary to be an effective president.

But don’t forget Florida

The 2000 election demonstrated that the electoral college can sometimes undermine a president’s legitimacy. Because of the electoral college, the outcome of the national presidential election was in doubt for more than a month even though one candidate enjoyed a clear popular vote plurality nationwide. The U.S. Supreme Court eventually determined the outcome of the election by halting the vote count in Florida.

Proposals for Reform

• Eliminate electors but still count electoral votes.• Select electors based on the proportion of the

vote each candidate gets in each state.• Select electors by congressional districts with

two electors chosen at large in each state.• Choose the president by direct popular election.

Will Reform Happen?

• Amending the Constitution is not easy.• Small states would be opposed to reform

because they benefit from the current system.• Groups that are concentrated in states with

large numbers of electoral votes (such as Cuban Americans, Jewish Americans, urban residents, etc.) would be opposed to reform because it would diminish their influence.

Review Question

North Carolina has 13 U.S. representatives. How many electoral votes does the state have?

Answer

North Carolina has 15 electoral votes. The formula is the number of U.S. senators, which is two for each state, plus the number of U.S. representatives. Two plus 13 equals 15.

Review Question

Who are electors?

Answer

They are individuals selected in each state to officially cast that state’s electoral votes. Electors are typically long-time party activists who are selected by their state party organization as a reward for their loyalty to the party. In most states, electors are officially pledged to support their party’s presidential and vice presidential candidates.

Review Question

Does it matter whether a candidate carries a state by a few votes or a lot of votes?

Answer

No. A candidate receives all of a state’s electoral votes whether the candidate carries the state by one vote or a million votes. In every state except Nebraska and Maine, the race is winner take all.

Review Question

What is the small state bias?

Answer

The electoral college has a small state bias because every state gets at least three electoral votes regardless of its population. As a result, small states such as Alaska, Wyoming, and South Dakota enjoy a greater percentage of electoral votes than they would merit based strictly on population.

Review Question

Why would most Cuban American political leaders likely oppose replacing the electoral college with direct popular election?

Answer

The electoral college gives Cuban Americans a disproportionate influence in national politics because of their concentration in the state of Florida, a state with a sizable number of electoral votes that is closely divided politically. Candidates for president cannot afford to ignore the political concerns of Cuban Americans because of their role in Florida elections.

Discussion Question

Why didn’t the 2000 election trigger a major effort to reform the electoral college?

Discussion Question

How does the electoral college impact candidate strategy in presidential election campaigns?

Discussion Question

Do you favor or oppose replacing the electoral college with a different system for selecting a president? If you support reform, what sort of system would you prefer?