How many electoral votes are needed to win a presidential election quizlet?
270
How does the Electoral College work and what is it?
In the Electoral College system, each state gets a certain number of electors based on its total number of representatives in Congress. Each elector casts one electoral vote following the general election; there are a total of 538 electoral votes. The candidate that gets more than half (270) wins the election.
Who makes up the Electoral College What does it do quizlet?
A group of people representing the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the election of the president and vice president. The national election, where one candidate from each party competes to get the position. Each state has as many electors as it has senators and representatives in Congress.
What are the major concerns or problems with the operation of the Electoral College system quizlet?
1) Small-population states are over-represented. 2) Winner-takes-all system can distort the result (such as in 2008, when Obama won 52% of the popular vote but 68% of the Electoral College votes). 3) Possible for a candidate to win the popular vote but lose in the Electoral College (as Al Gore (Democrat) did in 2000).
Is there a reason for presidential candidates to pay attention to small states as well as large ones quizlet?
Is there a reason for presidential candidates to pay attention to small states as well as large ones? Yes, because small states are overrepresented in the Electoral College. It makes it possible for a candidate to lose the popular vote but still win the presidency.
What are 3 major flaws of the Electoral College?
Three criticisms of the College are made: It is “undemocratic;” It permits the election of a candidate who does not win the most votes; and. Its winner-takes-all approach cancels the votes of the losing candidates in each state.
How many electoral votes are there in the Electoral College quizlet?
538 votes
How do states decide who gets Electoral College votes?
Under the “Electoral College” system, each state is assigned a certain number of “votes”. The formula for determining the number of votes for each state is simple: each state gets two votes for its two US Senators, and then one more additional vote for each member it has in the House of Representatives.
Does the Electoral College pick the president?
Electors then cast the votes that decide who becomes president of the United States. Usually, electoral votes align with the popular vote in an election. But a number of times in our nation’s history, the person who took the White House did not receive the most popular votes.
What was the original purpose of the Electoral College does it serve that purpose effectively?
The Electoral College is a process, not a place. The Founding Fathers established it in the Constitution, in part, as a compromise between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens.
How does one become an elector in the Electoral College?
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. This happens in each State for each party by whatever rules the State party and (sometimes) the national party have for the process.
How is it possible for a presidential candidate to win the popular vote but lose the election quizlet?
How can a candidate win the electoral vote but lose the popular vote? US Presidents are not elected by popular vote, they are elected by electoral votes, cast by the electors from each state and DC. The electors are elected by popular vote and pledge to vote for one particular candidate.
What does the popular vote mean?
Popular vote, in an indirect election, is the total number of votes received in the first-phase election, as opposed to the votes cast by those elected to take part in the final election.
Which of the following problems are associated with the electoral college quizlet?
is plagued by three major defects: (1) the winner of the popular vote is not guaranteed the presidency; (2) electors are not required to vote in accord with the popular vote; and (3) any election might have to be decided in the House of Representatives.
How does one figure out how many electoral votes each state has quizlet?
How is the number of electors in each state determined? 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.
What is the popular vote quizlet?
Popular Vote. The votes that are cast by citizens in a presidential election. Electoral Vote. The group of electors that casts the official votes that elect the president and vice president. You just studied 21 terms!