the election of a president. original provisions according to the constitution, the president and...
TRANSCRIPT
Original Provisions
According to the Constitution, the President and Vice President are chosen by a special body of presidential electors.
Originally, these electors each cast two electoral votes, each for a different candidate. The candidate with the most votes would become President, and the candidate with the second highest total would become Vice President.
The Electoral College
A group of people (electors) chosen from each State and the District of Columbia that formally selects the President and Vice President
With the rise of political parties in 1796, flaws began to be seen in the system
The 1800 Election
The 12th Amendment was added to the Constitution in 1804 following the election of 1800.
each elector would distinctly cast one electoral vote for President and one for Vice President.
Nominating a President
Primaries A delegate-selection process and/or A candidate preference election
From this point, primaries can only be described on a State-by-State basis because: The fact that in each State the details of delegate-selection
process are determined by that State’s own law The ongoing reform efforts in the Democratic Party (greater
grassroots politics) 1968 DNC- a lot of descent within the party
Vietnam Civil Rights
Nominating a President
The Caucus-Convention Process Voters choose delegates to a local or district convention, at
which delegates for a State convention are chosen, at which delegates for the National convention are chosen
The National Convention A meeting held by the major political parties in which
delegates vote to pick their Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates
Major Goals of the National Convention Naming the party’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates Bringing various factions of party together in one place and
unifying or uniting the party Adopting the parties platform (party’s stand on major policy
matters)
Nominating a President
The National Convention The First Two Days
Organizing and Rousing Speeches Keynote address-Speech given at a party convention to set
the tone for the convention and the campaign to come Glorifies party, its history, its leaders and its programs Condemns the opposition Predicts victory in November
Write Platform “Platforms are written to be ignored and forgotten…Like
Jell-O shimmering on a dessert plate, there is usually little substance and nothing you can get your teeth into.
The Election
The Electoral College Each state has the same number of votes as they
have representation in the House and Senate The Framers expected the electors to use their
own judgment in selecting a President Today, electors really just “rubber stamp” the
candidates They are expected to vote in-line with their state’s will “In short, the electors go through the form set out in
the Constitution in order to meet the letter of the Constitution, but their behavior is a far cry from its original intent
The Election
The Electoral College Vote for the Electors on “the Tuesday after the
first Monday in November” Winner-take-all system (except Maine and
Nebraska) if a candidate wins a state, he/she wins all the votes
from that state The people, as a whole, really vote for electors
In most states you will see the Presidential candidates name on the ballot
Vote for President on the “Monday after the second Wednesday in December”
The Election
The Electoral College Presidential candidate must win a majority of the
electoral votes (270 out of 538) If a candidate fails to win a majority, the election
is thrown into the House of Representatives Vote out of the top 3 candidates Each state gets one vote (candidate must receive 26
votes)
The Election Flaws in the Electoral College
Winner of the popular vote is not guaranteed the presidency The small state benefit
Wyoming Electoral representation= 165,000 California Electoral representation= 616,000
http://www.presidentelect.org/e2000.html#map Electors are not required to vote in accord with the
popular vote “faithless elector”- 1796, 1820, 1948, 1956, 1960, 1968,
1972, 1976, and 1988 2000- one member from DC didn’t vote
Any election might have to be decided in the House of Representatives Happened twice Could happen with a strong 3rd party candidate
Alternative Ideas
1. The District Plan2. The Proportional Plan 3. The National Bonus Plan 4. Direct Popular Election
The Election How do you fix the problems posed by the Electoral
College: The District Plan
More accurate results; get rid of winner-take-all 1960- Nixon would have become President
The Proportional Plan (60% of popular vote and 10 Electoral College votes= 6 votes) get rid of winner-take-all; faithless elector 1896- W.J. Bryan would have become President despite the
fact that he lost the popular vote by a significant number of votes; Small states—over-represented; encourage 3rd parties
The National Bonus Plan (an additional 102 votes to the winner of the popular election)
Direct Popular Election All votes would be equal Small states would be against this—lose representation