Electoral College
Citizens go to the polls and vote on the first Tuesday after
the first Monday in November. We actually vote for a slate
of electors instead of directly voting for a candidate.
Each state is entitled to as many electors as it has
members of Congress. (# of Rep. + Senators = Electoral
votes)
Rep.
Sen. = Electors
Examples: NC
13
2
15
ND
1
2
3
TX
32
2
34
Cal
53
2
55
Must win at least 270 out of 538 electoral votes to be
elected
Each party designates who they would like to be
electors and end up actually casting the electoral
votes. If that party’s candidate wins the state’s
popular vote then those individuals become electors
and get to vote.
The original intent was that electors would be free to
vote as they chose. In reality this is usually not done.
They vote as they have been pledged.
Electors meet in their state Capitol on the Monday
following the 2nd Wednesday in December to cast
their electoral vote. They cast one vote for President
and one vote for Vice President. The votes are sealed
and sent to Congress where they are opened during
a joint session and formally counted in January.
State of Alabama
2000 Electoral Votes
Arizona Electors vote
In Arizona, the state electors' ballots
are affixed with the official state seal
during a ceremony at the state capitol
in Phoenix.
http://www.archives.gov/federalregister/electoralcollege/2004/election_results.html
(US Electoral College Website)
NORTH CAROLINA
(15 electoral votes)
Population, 2000 census: 8,049,313
1,961,166 popular votes cast for
electors pledged to
George W. Bush and Dick Cheney:
William B. Carraway
Sandra (Sandy) Carter
Theresa Esposito
Jim Hastings
Martha Jenkins
Judy Keener
Elizabeth Kelly
Joe L. Morgan
Joseph W. Powell, Jr.
Robert Rector
Dewitt Rhoades
Marcia M. Spiegel
Ann Sullivan
William Harry Trotter
Davey G. Williamson
NORTH CAROLINA PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS
2004
DEMOCRATIC PARTY
Seroba Aiken
Edward C. McGuire
James Narron
Jeff Dellinger
John Murphy
Harley D. Caldwell
Edward Smith
Walter Marshall
Ben Neill
John C. Brooks
Wayne Abraham
Mary Rhoe
Armin Jancis
Harold Brokaw
P. E. Bazemore
REPUBLICAN PARTY
LIBERTARIAN PARTY
Joseph W. Powell, Jr.
Dewitt Rhoades
Ann Sullivan
Davey G. Williamson
William B. Carraway
Theresa Esposito
Sandra Carter
Elizabeth Kelly
William H. Trotter
Larry W. Potts
Thomas D. Luckadoo
Dr. Joe Morgan
Judy Keener
Robert Rector
Marcia M. Spiegel
Douglas S. Adams
Carl S. Milsted, Jr.
Stephen D. Burr
Richard N. Norman
Jeff Goforth
Robert R. Ritchie
David N. Goree
Rachel M. Turnbull
Thomas B. Hill
Ray Ubinger
Michael S. Hilton, Jr.
Beverly J. Wilcox
Brian Irving
Roger L. Wrights
Shane D. Killian
No Legal Requirement
In 24 states, electors are not bound by State Law to cast their vote for a specific candidate:
ARIZONA - 10 Electoral Votes
ARKANSAS - 6 Electoral Votes
DELAWARE - 3 Electoral Votes
GEORGIA - 15 Electoral Votes
IDAHO - 4 Electoral Votes
ILLINOIS - 21 Electoral Votes
INDIANA - 11 Electoral Votes
IOWA - 7 Electoral Votes
KANSAS - 6 Electoral Votes
KENTUCKY - 8 Electoral Votes
LOUISIANA - 9 Electoral Votes
MINNESOTA - 10 Electoral Votes
MISSOURI - 11 Electoral Votes
NEW HAMPSHIRE - 4 Electoral Votes
NEW JERSEY - 15 Electoral Votes
NEW YORK - 31 Electoral Votes
NORTH DAKOTA - 3 Electoral Votes
PENNSYLVANIA - 21 Electoral Votes
RHODE ISLAND - 4 Electoral Votes
SOUTH DAKOTA - 3 Electoral Votes
TENNESSEE - 11 Electoral Votes
TEXAS - 34 Electoral Votes
UTAH - 5 Electoral Votes
WEST VIRGINIA - 5 Electoral Votes
Legal Requirements or Pledges
Electors in 26 States are bound by State Law to cast their vote for a specific candidate
NORTH CAROLINA – (15 Electoral Votes)
State Law - § 163-212 (Violation cancels vote; elector is replaced and is subject to $500
fine.)
New Mexico- 4th degree felony
1984 Electoral Vote
(Largest landslide)
Election results for select years
1992
Popular Vote
Bush (R)
38%
(39,102,343)
168
Clinton (D)
43%
(44,908,254)
Electoral Vote
370
North Carolina
Popular Vote
George Bush
Bill Clinton
Ross Perot
1,122,608
1,103,716
353,845
Perot (Reform)
19%
(19,741,065)
0
Electoral Vote
14
0
0
1992
George Bush = Red
Bill Clinton = Blue
Election results for select years
1996
Popular Vote
Bill Clinton (D)
Bob Dole (R)
Ross Perot
Other
North Carolina
Bill Clinton (D)
Bob Dole (R)
Ross Perot
Other
Electoral Vote
47,401,898
39,198,482
8,085,373
1,704,065
Popular Vote
1,107,849
1,225,938
168,059
13,961
379
159
0
0
Electoral Vote
0
14
0
0
1996
Bob Dole = Red
Bill Clinton = Blue
Election results for select years
2000
Popular Vote
Electoral Vote
George W. Bush (R)
50,456,062
(47.9%)
271
Al Gore (D)
Ralph Nader (G)
50,996,582 (48.4%)
2,882,728 (2.7%)
266
0
Other
1,039,754
Total 105,377,660
0
(1.0%)
North Carolina
George W.
Al Gore
Other
(Nader was not on NC ballot)
Popular Vote
Electoral Vote
1,631,163
1,257,692
26,135
14
0
0
(1 voter abstained)
Election results for select years
2000
Florida
George Bush (R)
Popular Vote
Electoral Vote
2,912,790
25
(difference of 537 votes!!!!!!!!)
Al Gore (D)
Ralph Nader (G)
2,912,253
0
97,488
0
Chads
Florida Voting Problems
Butterfly Ballot
Looking for
hanging chads
Florida Voting Problems
Nine types of errors were found in the counties that used punch card ballots as
they held up the uncounted cards to the light:
1)Some ballots that were properly punched were not counted because
of machine error.
2)Some ballots could not be punched all the way because of machine
problems.
3)Some ballots were punched all the way but the voter failed to
notice that the chad was still attached on one corner.
4)Some ballots were punched all the way but the chad was still
attached on two corners.
5)Some ballots were punched all the way but the chad was only
detached at one corner.
6)Some ballots only had a pin prick that could be seen when held up
to the light, but no corner had been detached.
7)Some ballots had only dimpled chads. In other words there was an
indentation but no light could be seen when holding up the card.
8)Some voters wrote a name on the card rather than punching
through the chad, which probably indicated some problem using the
punchcard machine.
9)Some voted for two candidates, which invalidated the vote. This
was more common in Palm Beach County because of the butterfly
ballot.
2000
George W. Bush = Red
Al Gore = Blue
Election results for select years
2004
Popular Vote
George W. Bush (R)
62,040,606 (51%)
John Kerry (D)
59,028,109 (48%)
Ralph Nader (G)
Electoral Vote
286
251
411,304 (1%)
Total 121,480,119
North Carolina
George W. Bush
John Kerry
Michael Bednarik (L)
(most votes ever)
Popular Vote
1,961,166
1,525,849
11,731
0
(1 elector voted
for
John Edwards)
Electoral Vote
15
0
0
2004
George W. Bush = Red
John Kerry = Blue
2008
Popular Vote
John McCain (R)
69,297,997
Barack Obama (D)
59,597,520
Ralph Nader (I)
590,101
Bob Barr (L)
523,253
Chuck Baldwin (Const.)
361,226
Cynthia McKinney (Green)
159,889
Alan Keyes (America’s Indep.) 47,700
Others
455,113
Total 131,032,799
Electoral Vote
365
173
0
0
0
0
0
0
(most votes ever)
2008 North Carolina
Barack Obama (D)
John McCain (R)
Bob Barr (L)
Write-in
Popular Vote
2,142,651
2,128,474
25,722
13,942
Electoral Vote
15
0
0
0
Electoral College map showing the results of the 2008 US presidential
election. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) won the popular vote in 28 states
and the District of Columbia (denoted in blue) to capture 365 electoral
votes. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) won the popular vote in 22 states
(denoted in red) to capture 173 electoral votes. Nebraska split its electoral
vote when Senator Obama won Nebraska's 2CD electoral vote; the state's
other four electoral votes went to McCain.
Cartogram representation of the Electoral College
vote for the 2008 election, with each square
representing one electoral vote.
Past North Carolina Winners
2008: Barack Obama
2004: George W. Bush
2000: George W. Bush
1996: Bob Dole
1992: George H. W. Bush
1988: George H. W. Bush
1984: Ronald Reagan
1980: Ronald Reagan
1976: Jimmy Carter
1972: Richard Nixon
1968: Richard Nixon
1964: Lyndon Johnson
1960: John F. Kennedy
1956: Adlai Stevenson
1952: Adlai Stevenson
1948: Harry Truman
1932, 1936,1940,1944: Franklin Roosevelt
1928: Herbert Hoover
Blue- Democrat
Black- Republican
Possible Electoral Vote Tie
Flaws in the Electoral College
1) The winner of the popular vote is not guaranteed
the Presidency.
1824 (Andrew Jackson lost to J.Q. Adams)
1876 (Samuel Tilden lost to Rutherford B. Hayes)
1888 (Grover Cleveland lost to Benjamin Harrison)
2000 (Gore won popular vote by over 500,000)
*** 15 Presidents were elected without a majority of the
popular vote.
2) Electors are not required to vote for the candidate
favored by the popular vote.
Electors have “broken their pledges” and refused to
vote for their party’s Presidential nominee on only
11 occasions.
*** These “faithless electors” have had no effect on the outcome of
any election but the potential is there!!!!!!
1796
1820 1948
1956
1960 1968 1972
1976 (elector voted for Reagan not Ford)
1988 (elector voted for Bentsen not Dukakis)
2000 (D. C. elector abstained-protested no representation
for Washington DC in Congress)
2004 (one elector voted for John Edwards not John Kerry)
3) The election could ultimately be decided by
Congress. Only Happened twice:
***If no candidate receives at least 270 electoral votes. (simple majority)
(need a strong 3rd party candidate)
House of Representatives – President
Senate - Vice President
1800
Thomas Jefferson (73) was elected over Aaron Burr (73),
John Adams (65), and Charles Pinckney (64)
(Controversy led to the passage of the 12th
Amendment)
1824
John Quincy Adams (84) was elected over Andrew Jackson (99),
William Crawford (41), and Henry Clay (37)
Objections to the House of Rep. deciding the Presidency
1) Voting is done by state and not as individuals
(Each state has only 1 vote)
2) If the Representatives of a state can’t decide the state
could lose their vote.
(Example- Equal # of Democrats and Republicans)
3) The Constitution requires a majority of the states’ votes
(must receive at least 26 votes- 3 strong candidates
could lead to no one chosen