electoral collage Flashcards
each state gets votes based on ______
population
how many votes per each senator
2
one vote per state for each member in the ________________
house of representatives
changes based on census data every 10 years. Reallocation of House Representatives based on changes in population (some states gain, some states lose, some stay same)
Reapportionment
how do you get all the votes in a state
you win majority
how are electors chosen for the electoral college
winning party
electoral college Usually agrees with winner of the
popular vote
Candidates may focus on moderate message to appeal to
swing states
- Candidates can’t ignore the __________________ states
small pop states
the system has always worked
it’s stable
Electoral college makes the margin of victory look wider, which empowers the president to pursue campaign promises
“mandate”
benefits:
swing states get attention, smaller states aren’t ignored, stable, usually agrees with pop vote
sometimes the electoral college cannot make up it’s mind and ______
has no majority
Winner of EC has _________ popular vote many times (recent ex: 2000, 2016)
lost
Candidate’s ignore _____________ (states that party has won last 4 or more times)
safe states
People’s votes aren’t _______________ (EC favors and boosts small states)
equal
_____________________________: EC voters don’t have to vote for state’s winning candidate
faithless electors
- ___________ & ___________ states get too much attention
& issues tailored to them
swing, small
_______________________: too complex, weird, unfair, etc
voters are turned off
______________________________: Winner-take-all system makes it nearly impossible for 3rd party candidates
third parties screwed
cons:
third parties, voters turned off, too much attention small & swing, faithless electors, pop vote lost, ties
changing the electoral college requires ______________ to change (really hard to do)
constitutional amendment
collectivly benefits __________ guaranteed at least 3 votes ( so at least they have some say)
small states
no __________ on how to reform electoral college (all systems have draw backs)
agreement
what is the electoral college?
a group of people appointed by each state to elect the president/ vice presodent
how many electors?
538, total voting membership of congress
how many electoral votes to win?
270
