The Electoral College

To be elected president a candidate needs a majority of...

270/538 votes

Each state has at least ____ electors.

3

The District of Columbia (washington dc) is allotted ___ electors.

3

How many Electors are there total?

538

Swing States

Also known as battle ground states; they are the states that are crucial to an election because their vote could go either way.

Faithless Elector

An elector who belongs to one party, but votes for the other party's candidate

Congressional District Method

If one candidate wins the popular vote for a certain congressional district, he or she wins the vote of the elector that represents that district. IF HE OR SHE WINS THE POPULAR VOTE IN A MAJORITY OF THE DISTRICTS, they also receive the vote of the two remaining electors.

HOW ARE ELECTORS CHOSEN?

It varies with every state. In general electoral candidates are nominated by each party, and a voter chooses a group of electors based on their party.

Which two states use the Congressional District Method instead of the winner takes all system?

Maine and Nebraska

The distribution of electors in the Electoral College is _______ .

Mal-apportioned; it is not exactly based on population; the system is set up in the constitution though so it will likely not change

Examples of swing states

Ohio, Virginia, Wisconsin (most important due to the number of electors)

(T/F) The popular vote does roughly translate into the votes cast by the electoral college.

True; however it is possible to win the popular vow and lose the electoral vote.

When does winning the popular and losing the electoral vote occur?

When there is a strong third party candidate running.

Most states operate on a _________ system

Winner takes all

Electoral College

a representative body (roughly based on state populations) which casts votes to select the President of the United States

In a winner takes all system...

if a candidate wins a plurality in a state, he or she receives the votes from all of that states electors

How is the number of electors per state decided?

number of house representatives + number of senate representatives

If no one wins the majority in the electoral college______________.

the vote goes to the house of representatives who then gets to choose the president from the two candidates who received the highest electoral votes.