Gov Final Flashcards
As explained in “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly about The Electoral College” article the negative aspects of the Electoral College are all of the following
- The Electoral College gives more weight to voters in small states than those in more populous ones.
- The Electoral College was a pillar of white supremacy.
- The Electoral College encourages voter suppression.
From “The history of the Electoral College and our national conversation about race”, historian Alexander Keyssar reaches which of the following conclusions?
- The conventional wisdom that the small states had blocked electoral reform forever and ever was simply not true.
- Due to the winner-take-all popular vote and Electoral College voting, some states would be incentivized to suppress voters.
- Electoral College reform is affected by matters of racial and regional politics.
The Constitution stipulates who of the following cannot be a member of the Electoral College?
- No person shall be appointed an Elector who has engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.
- No Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.
According to the “How the Electoral College Protects and Nurtures Our Republic” article, all of the are explained as positive aspects of maintaining the Electoral College system
- The Electoral College reduces incentives for fraud by making much electoral fraud meaningless in the presidential race. There is no value in encouraging fraud in states that a party is likely to win anyway.
- If the Electoral College system was changed to a National Popular Vote, candidates would need neither a popular nor an Electoral College majority—just more votes than anyone else. Thus, a candidate could win with as little as 25 percent or 30 percent of the vote.
- The Electoral College presidential election system prevents a race to the bottom as states try to gin up turnout for their preferred candidates by, for example, lowering the voting age to 16 or even 14 or allowing even a convicted felon who is still incarcerated to vote (as Vermont and Maine have done). If some states want to do these things, they can, but their doing so does not affect other states.
Currently, there are ____ total members of the Electoral College with ____ Electoral College votes needed to win the presidency and vice-presidency.
- 538/270
Who selects a state’s slate of potential electors before the general election?
The political parties in each state select the state’s slate of potential electors
Two states follow the proportional distribution of the electors meaning which of the following statements?
- They allow electoral votes to be split by awarding some votes on the basis of a candidate’s statewide total and some on the basis of how the candidate did in each congressional district.
- The states could award electors to more than one candidate.
As explained within the “About the Electors” site, all of the following are true of the Electoral College members
- Some State laws provide that so-called “faithless electors” may be subject to fines or may be disqualified for casting an invalid vote and be replaced by a substitute elector.
- The U.S. Supreme Court has held that the Constitution does not require that electors be completely free to act as they choose and therefore, political parties may extract pledges from electors to vote for the parties’ nominees.
- The Supreme Court decided (in 2020) that States can enact requirements on how electors vote.
There has never been a presidential election where the person not winning the popular vote was still elected as president.
F
According to the West article, which of the following statements is true?
The Constitutional framers rejected a popular vote for president because they did not trust voters to make a wise choice.
When the voters in each state cast votes for the Presidential candidate of their choice they are voting to do which of the following?
Voters are really casting their ballots for the presidential nominee’s state party’s slate of electors who will then select the president.
According to the 12th Amendment, if no one person, for the presidential election, receives a majority vote of the whole number of Electors appointed, then all of the following will occur
- The House of Representatives representation from each state has one vote in the House of Representatives and a majority of all the states in the House of Representatives shall be necessary to select the president.
- The names of the top three persons receiving the highest number of presidential Electoral College votes will go the House of Representatives.
- The House of Representatives will immediately vote to determine who the United States president will be.
In 48 states, if voting per the state’s traditional or legal standards, the state’s Electoral College members votes are cast based upon which of the following?
The candidate who wins the most of the state’s popular vote wins all of the Electoral College member’s votes from that specific state.
According to “The history of the Electoral College and our national conversation about race”, which of the following statement is true?
During the 1970s, African American politicians and leaders of organizations were divided over their support or opposition to the Electoral College.
All 48 states follow the “winner-take-all” electoral voting system except for which of the following 2 states?
Maine/Nebraska
The amount of Electoral College votes each state receives is based upon which of the following?
The Electoral College number of votes each state receives depends upon the total number of Congressional members each state has in Congress.
All following are concerns with removing the Electoral College method
- If the Electoral College method were removed and replaced, then there is the possibility of electing an extremist candidate with less than a majority support across the nation.
- You would need three-fourths of the states to ratify any amendment to remove the Electoral College.
- If presidents were elected purely by popular vote, a candidate could win the presidency with less than 50% of the vote.
The 1800 United States Presidential Election resulted in all of the following
- The House of Representatives selecting the president.
- The establishment of the Twelfth Amendment.
- Ensuring Electoral College members for future elections cast two separate votes, one vote for a president and a different vote for a vice-president.
All of the following are true statements according to “The history of the Electoral College and our national conversation about race” reading
- After the Civil War, and particularly after 1880–1890, African Americans were driven out of politics in the South through force, and then more or less by law
- Slave-holding states received extra electoral votes due to the three-fifths clause.
- Southern senators filibustered efforts to establish a national popular voting system due to the political influence African-Americans would gain if the Electoral College was removed.
Some state are proposing a National Popular Vote Electoral College system. Which of the following statements explains a National Popular Vote Electoral College method?
The state’s Electoral College members are required to vote for the presidential candidate winning the national popular vote.
All of the following were the original rationale for the Electoral College?
- Constitutional Delegates wanted a body of wise men (women could not vote) who would deliberate over leading contenders and choose the best person for the presidency.
- As a compromise between the less populated states and the more populated states.
- To appease the Constitutional Convention delegates insisting Congress select the president and other delegates who wished the state legislatures could choose the president.
As explained within the “Legal Provisions Relevant to the Electoral College Process” under the Section “Counting electoral votes in congress” section
Both the House of Representatives and the Senate may object to a state’s Electoral College vote.
