What is the point of the Electoral College?

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The Electoral College consists of 538 electors. A majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the President. Your state’s entitled allotment of electors equals the number of members in its Congressional delegation: one for each member in the House of Representatives plus two for your Senators.

How do small states benefit from the Electoral College?

The electoral college distorts the popular vote, because small states get more votes than populous states. Each state has the same number of votes in the EC as it has representatives in Congress. That means that even the least populous state — Wyoming, with 586,107 residents — gets three electoral college votes.

Why did they create the Electoral College?

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 founding fathers were afraid of direct election to the Presidency. They feared a tyrant could manipulate public opinion and come to power.

How many flaws are there in the electoral college system?

There are three major flaws, or defects, in the electoral college system. First, there is always the danger that the winner of the popular vote will not win the presidency. This has happened four times, most recently in 2000.

What happens if there is a tie in the Electoral College?

It takes 270toWin. If neither candidate gets a majority of the 538 electoral votes, the election for President is decided in the House of Representatives, with each state delegation having one vote. It is important to note that an apparent tie on election night does not mean that there is actually a tie.

What is the importance of the electoral college?

Below is a quick guide on what it does and why it matters. The Electoral College is made up of 538 electors who cast votes to decide the President and Vice-President of the United States. When voters go to the polls on Tuesday, they will be choosing which candidate receives their state’s electors.

How fair is the Electoral College?

A state’s electoral votes are equal to the number of representatives and senators the state has in Congress. The electoral college is supposed to guarantee that populous states can’t dominate an election, but it also sets up a disparity in representation.

Who are the people who elect the president?

The choice is between the top two vice-presidential vote-getters in the Electoral College. Each senator has one vote, for a total of 100 votes (no vote for the District of Columbia). A Vice-President must be elected by a majority-51-of the whole Senate.

What happens if no one gets 270 votes in the Electoral College?

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 is the 12th Amendment to the Constitution?

The Twelfth Amendment (Amendment XII) to the United States Constitution provides the procedure for electing the President and Vice President. It replaced the procedure provided in Article II, Section 1, Clause 3, by which the Electoral College originally functioned.

How did the Electoral College come to be?

Originally, the Electoral College provided the Constitutional Convention with a compromise between the popular election of the President and congressional selection. The 12th Amendment—ratified in 1804—changed the original process, allowing for separate ballots for determining the President and Vice President.

What is the minimum number of electoral votes a state can have?

The number corresponds to the number of members of congress that state has. What is the minimum number of Electoral Votes a state can have? 3. (2 senators plus a minimum of 1 House Rep.)

What does the electoral college?

The Electoral College is a group of people that elects the president and the vice president of the United States. As voters head to the polls on Tuesday, they will not vote for the presidential candidates directly, in a popular vote. Instead, they will vote to elect specific people, known as “electors” to the college.

How many votes do you need to be president?

Remember, there are a total of 538 electoral votes. In order to become President, a candidate needs to win one more than half, or 270. But this can get even more complicated. What happens if the electoral vote results in a tie between two candidates?

How many votes did Trump get in the Electoral College?

Ultimately, Trump received 304 electoral votes and Clinton garnered 227, while Colin Powell won three, and John Kasich, Ron Paul, Bernie Sanders, and Faith Spotted Eagle each received one.

Who chooses the president in the event of a tie?

That decision goes to the Senate, which decides it by a simple vote. The Senate is—and is expected to remain—Democratic. As a result, if there is a 269-269 tie in the Electoral College, the next president could be Mitt Romney. And the vice president would be Joe Biden.

What states are considered swing states?

Election analytics website FiveThirtyEight identifies the states of Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin as “perennial” swing states that have regularly seen close contests over the last few presidential campaigns.

How are the members of the electoral college chosen?

Generally, the parties either nominate slates of potential Electors at their state party conventions or they chose them by a vote of the party’s central committee. When the voters in each state cast votes for the Presidential candidate of their choice they are voting to select their state’s Electors.

How many votes does each state have in the Electoral College?

In all, there are 538 electoral votes and the number given to each state reflects the sum of the representatives and senators it sends to Congress.

Which state has the most electoral college votes?

The six states with the most electors are California (55), Texas (38), New York (29), Florida (29), Illinois (20), and Pennsylvania (20). The seven smallest states by population—Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming—have three electors each.

What happens if the president dies before taking office?

If a winning Presidential candidate dies or becomes incapacitated between the counting of electoral votes in Congress and the inauguration, the Vice President elect will become President, according to Section 3 of the 20th Amendment.

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