AP Government & Politics The Electoral College 1. Why did the Framers create the Electoral College? They created the electoral college so that the people are not picking the president directly, but instead voting for electors to vote on their state's behalf. This prevents people from voting blindly and makes it so they at least have a part in the process. This also keeps congress from picking the president and having influence over them. This is to keep the 3 branches separate. 2. How is the number of electors for each state determined? The number of electors for each state is determined by the population of each state. 3. When do the electors vote? When are the votes officially counted? The electors vote on December 14 after the people have casted their ballots. The Votes are officially counted on January 6. 4. What is a "faithless elector"? A faithless elector is somebody who is supposed to vote for a certain party, but ends up voting for the other party. 5. How many electoral votes are needed to win the presidential election? How is the winner determined if no candidate reaches this number? There needs to be 270 electoral votes to win the presidential election and if no candidate reaches this number then congress (the house) will pick the winner with each state getting a vote. One more than half to win when it goes to the house. 6. When does the president-elect take the oath of office (20th Amendment)? This is done on January 20. 7. What are some of the common criticisms of the Electoral College? What are the common arguments in defense of the E.C .? Some common criticisms of the electoral college are that the people are not voting directly, so the president doesn't have to win the popular vote, they just have to win the electoral vote. Also that it is undemocratic. Small states get too many reps. Less people will vote because they don't feel like their vote matters. Although some arguments in defense of the electoral college are that it spreads out the power among different levels and this will lead to the right person getting elected. It gives checks and balances within the executive branch. It is hard for the president or congress to rule over everyone in tyranny. 8. What would it likely take to eliminate the use of the E.C. and move to a direct election of the President? Is this likely to happen? Why or why not?
We would need to amend the constitution so switch the way we vote for president. This is unlikely to happen because we have been using this method for so long, not everyone would be on board with changing it. The small states wouldn't agree because they are getting more representation and we need 3/4 of the states to agree to ratify the constitution.