The Electoral College
Name
Per
Use the website 270towin.com to help you complete the following:
Let’s pretend there are only five states as listed below with their electoral votes and election returns:
State
Electoral
Popular
Popular
vote
Vote A
Vote B
Oregon
7
1,000,000
1,000,100
Washington
11
1,500,000
1,500,100
Idaho
4
800,000
400,000
Montana
3
500,000
200,000
Minnesota
10
2,000,000
1,000,000
Total
35
5,800,000
4,100,200
Candidate A received 5,800,000 popular votes.
How many electoral votes did Candidate A receive?
Candidate B received 4,100,200 popular votes.
How many electoral votes did Candidate B receive?
How many states did A win?
How many states did B win
Which candidate won the presidential election?
What argument could be made that this was a good result?
If we really have to include California, look what could happen.
State
Electoral
Popular
Popular
vote
Vote A
Vote B
Oregon
7
500,000
1,500,000
Washington
11
500,000
2,000,000
Idaho
4
200,000
1,000,000
Montana
3
200,000
500,000
Minnesota
10
500,000
2,000,000
California
55
10,000,000
9,000,000
Total
90
11,900,000
16,000,000
Candidate A received 11,900,000 popular votes.
How many electoral votes did Candidate A receive?
Candidate B received 16,000,000 popular votes.
How many electoral votes did Candidate B receive?
How many states did A win?
How many states did B win
Which candidate won the presidential election?
What argument could be made that this was a good result?
State
Electoral
Population
Population/
vote
Electoral vote
Oregon
7
2,800,000
Montana
3
900,000
California
55
29,700,000
How many Oregonians are needed to get each of its electoral votes?
How many Montanans are needed to get each of its electoral votes?
How many Californians are needed to get each of its electoral votes?
Why does this happen?
Is this fair?
Government
3.321
Use 270towin.com and the 1992 Results to determine the following:
How many popular votes did Ross Perot get in 1992?
How many electoral votes did Ross Perot get in 1992?
What percent of the popular votes did Ross Perot get in 1992?
How many popular votes did George Bush get in 1992?
How many electoral votes did George Bush get in 1992?
What percent of the popular votes did George Bush get in 1992?
____________ How many popular votes did Bill Clinton get in 1992?
How many electoral votes did Bill Clinton get in 1992?
What percent of the popular votes did Bill Clinton get in 1992?
Why did Clinton win if he only had 45% of the votes?
If we required a candidate to reach 50% or more of the electoral votes to be elected, how
could we do it?
Provide an argument for proportional representation that would have given Ross Perot
electoral votes equivalent to his popular vote________________________________.
The total electoral vote possible is 538
(435 for each congressperson, 100 for each senator, and 3 for Wash. DC)
Fill in the table below for the 10 states with the largest number electoral votes for the
2016 Election.
State
Vote
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Total
How many electoral votes do you get by winning the big 10?
After counting the total, what number of electoral votes are needed for victory?
If you won the big 10, what is the minimum number of states you would need for victory?
Identify the states that voted Republican in both the 2000 and 2012 campaigns. (Compare the maps)
How many electoral votes did those states have? (combined)
What regions of the US were they in?
Identify the states that voted Democratic in both the 2000 and 2012 campaigns. (Compare the maps)
Government
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How many electoral votes did those states have? (combined)
What regions of the US were they in?
Challenge:
Using 270towin.com, click on the states, turning them red or blue, to create a scenario where there would be
a potential tie in the electoral college.
Evaluate:
What does the map look like? Where is the primary republican support? Where is primary democratic
support?
Government
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