Transcript Electoral college ppt - West Ada School District

The 2000 Presidential Election
START
CICERO © 2010
end



Although many people believe that American voters directly elect
the president and vice president; in fact, that power lies in the
hands of a body known as the Electoral College. Voters cast
ballots for candidates, but it is up to the Electors in each state to
either abide by the popular vote or vote with their conscience.
The Electoral College was originally conceived as a safeguard
against the tyranny of the majority, and the executive office
becoming too powerful which critics worried might undermine
the principles of federalism and separation of powers.
In order to prevent this from happening delegates to the
Constitutional Convention decided on a more indirect form of
election that ultimately came to be known as the elector college.
The Constitution lays out the basic framework and responsibilities
of the Electors in Article II sections 2 and 3.
CICERO © 2010
end

Article II establishes, for instance, that:
 The number of Electors should be equal to the number
of state representatives and senators in the United
States Congress.
 Over the years there were many who challenged the need for
an Electoral College. One of these was Andrew Jackson, the
seventh president of the United States.
 In 1824 Jackson won the popular vote but lost the Electoral
College. When he was elected president in 1828, he vowed to
amend the system to better reflect the will of the people.
CICERO © 2010
end

Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson tried to persuade
Congress to enact a constitutional
amendment that would have
abolished the Electoral College.
Although he was ultimately
unsuccessful, he was able to convince
the states to link their Electoral
College votes to the popular vote.
This bound each state to have two
separate slates of electors who would
cast electoral votes only if their party's
candidate won the state's popular
vote. This ensured, at least in
principle, that the popular vote would
have a direct bearing on the electoral
vote.
CICERO © 2010
end
Electoral Map of
the 2004 and
2008 Presidential
Elections


Not an official state, Washington, D.C., was granted three electoral
votes through the Twenty-third Amendment.
Maine and Nebraska electors distributed by way of the
Congressional District Method.
CICERO © 2010
end


In most cases the candidate who wins the popular
vote wins the electoral vote.
On only a few instances has a candidate won the
popular vote, but not the electoral vote.
1824 election – Andrew Jackson won the popular vote,
but John Quincy Adams won the electoral vote.
 1876 election – Samuel J. Tilden won the popular vote, but
Rutherford B. Hayes won the electoral vote.
 1888 election – Grover Cleveland won the popular vote,
but Benjamin Harrison won the electoral vote.
 2000 election – Al Gore won the popular vote, but George
W. Bush won the electoral vote.

CICERO © 2010
end
AL GORE (D)
GEORGE W. BUSH (R)
V.
CICERO © 2010
end



The Election of 2000 is the most recent example
of an election that was decided by the Electoral
College.
The 2000 election pitted Texas Governor
George W. Bush against Vice President Al
Gore.
The election was extremely close; it was the
closest in United States history.
CICERO © 2010
end




Vice President Gore won the popular vote by
almost 540,000 votes.
However, in the state of Florida, the election
remained very close, and under federal law, a
recount was ordered.
Computer results had Bush ahead by 327 votes
out of the 6 million that were cast.
Another recount was ordered, but this time it
was conducted by hand.
CICERO © 2010
end
Butterfly Ballot
This is an
example of a
Butterfly Ballot.
One can see how
easily such a
ballot could
create confusion
among voters.
Voters intending
to vote for Al
Gore mistakenly
voted for Patrick
Buchanan.
CICERO © 2010
end




Florida’s Secretary of State Katherine Harris set
a deadline for the recount.
The Florida Supreme Court extended Secretary
of State Harris’ deadline.
The United States Supreme Court overturned
that extension and ruled that the most recent
total be counted, which favored Governor
Bush.
Bush was awarded Florida’s 25 electoral votes
giving him a total of 271 electoral votes, one
more than needed (270) to be elected president.
CICERO © 2010