Electoral College
Why was the 12th Amendment necessary? How did it change the Electoral College system?
The most important part of the 12th amendment is that instead of casting two votes for President, each elector must pick a President AND a Vice President on his or her ballot. While the Twelfth Amendment did not change the composition of the Electoral College or the duties of the electors, it did change the process whereby a President and a Vice President are elected. The new electoral process was first used for the 1804 election.
Why did the Founders decide to use the Electoral College to elect the President rather than allowing Congress or the people to directly elect the President?
The reason is that the founding fathers were afraid of a direct election to elect the President. They feared someone could manipulate a public opinion and take the power.
List and explain three weaknesses of the Electoral College system.
The winner take all system makes it possible for candidates who lose popular vote can win the electoral college. Third party can win enough electoral votes to prevent either major part from winning. When neither person wins votes H.O.R. decides winner.
List and explain two possible solutions to the Electoral College system.
Congress controls presidents. Others supported by pop vote of citizen.
What is the minimum number of electors needed to win? What happens if no candidate receives the majority of Electoral College votes?
Contingent presidential election by House. Pursuant to the Twelfth Amendment, the House of Representatives is required to go into session immediately to vote for president if no candidate for president receives a majority of the electoral votes (since 1964, 270 of the 538 electoral votes). If no candidate receives a majority of Electoral votes, the House of Representatives elects the President from the 3 Presidential candidates who received the most Electoral votes. Each state delegation has one vote.
What determines the number of electors a state has in the Electoral College?
Each State is allocated a number of Electors equal to the number of its U.S. Senators (always 2) plus the number of its U.S. Representatives (which may change each decade according to the size of each State's population as determined in the Census).
How many times in US history has there been a president who won the popular vote but not the electoral vote?
John Quincy Adams Rutherford B. Hayes Benjamin Harrison George W. Bush 4
Do you think the Electoral College should be abolished? Why or why not?
The Electoral College it's part of federalism, which is a big part of our system of government.
Explain how the electoral college system was set up at first... Why do you think there was 6 weeks between the popular vote and the electorate vote?
The Electoral College was created for two reasons. The first purpose was to create a buffer between population and the selection of a President. The second as part of the structure of the government that gave extra power to the smaller states. To give the old president some time to get things done, and the new one time to get things together before becoming president.
How are electors selected to cast a state's official electoral votes in the presidential election?
The elector has to vote for the majority of who the state voted for, or the larger amount of votes the state voted for. For example: if you're a Republican than the elector has to vote republican, or if you're a democrat than you vote democrat.
The Electoral College is a winner-take-all system. What does that mean?
he District of Columbia and 48 states have a winner-takes-all rule for the Electoral College. In these States, whichever candidate receives a majority of the popular vote, or a plurality of the popular vote (less than 50 percent but more than any other candidate), takes all of the state's Electoral votes.
