Elections and Voting

Chapter 12

I. Election Campaigns

• National elections are held every two years

• All members of the House of Representatives are elected

• 1/3rd of the Senate is elected every two years

A. Electing the President

• Election Day – First Tuesday after the first Monday in November

• Electoral College – People from each state who actually elect the president

• Number of electors is equal to the number of Senators and Representatives from each state + for D.C.

• 270 – Number of electoral votes a candidate must win to become president

• If a candidate wins the 11 largest states they become the next president

B. Original System • Founders did not want common people voting for the

president

• Believed they were uneducated and uninformed

• In early elections no popular vote was even counted – Electors got to vote for two people

• Person who received the most voted became president • Runner-up became vice-president – Problem?

• Twelfth Amendment (1804) – Electors cast separate votes for the president and vice president

• If no candidate receives a majority of electoral votes, the House chooses the next president

C. Electoral College Today

• Popular vote in each state determines who win the electoral votes

• Winner-Takes-All – Party that receives the most votes receives all electoral votes of that state

• Nebraska and Maine are the only exceptions to this rule

• Candidates who win the popular vote are not guaranteed to win the presidency

Presidents Who Lost the Popular Vote

• John Quincy Adams (1824)• Rutherford B. Hayes (1876)• Benjamin Harrison (1888)• George W. Bush (2000)

I like the Electoral College how about You?

D. Financing Campaigns• 2008 – 4.7 billion dollars were spent by the

presidential and congressional candidates – Most in US history!

• Each individuals is only allowed to donate $2000 dollars to a candidate

• Soft Money – Money raised by a political party for a general purpose – not directly given to a candidate – NO LIMIT

• Political Action Committees – (PACs) – Organizations established by interest groups to support candidates