Lecture 17 Outline of Last Lecture I Political Parties history and why we have them Outline of Current Lecture II What is the Electoral College A How are the electors decided per state III States and Electors IV Electoral College affecting votes V Choosing Candidates according to the Constitution VI Several Categories of Primaries Current Lecture POLS 206 1st Edition l The Electoral College is the way President is chosen for citizens secondarily choose the President The Electors are a group of people currently there are 538 Electors for 100 Senators and 435 Representatives and 3 from D C because of the 23rd Amendment for every state has an equal number of electors as Senators and Representatives The decision for who the President is decided by majority at least 270 out of the 538 ll Because of the way the number of Elector s are chosen per state there is a variation in number per state Population is big factor lll Electoral College affecting votes a The electors are chosen after each party s primaries b In the general election the political party that has the most favor also wins state s electors though that is NOT the case for Maine and Nebraska c At particular times there is an Interstate Voters Compact where states such as Hawaii Massachusetts Maryland Illinois New Jersey Washington and D C do not really have electoral votes and more look at what the popular vote the rest of the country is going for This method is some what used no too much though yet d There are special cases where there is no real majority among the states majority is 26 votes for one candidate If this happens then the House of Representatives and the Senate decide So it is possible for the President to be picked but not by state popular vote An example is John Quincy Adams 1824 and George W Bush 2000 lV Choosing Candidates according to the Constitution a The Constitution does not give any specific rules for deciding candidates for the Presidential position So political parties decide that This started in 1789 by party caucus though in the beginning it was sort of biased for it was the Wealthy and Influential Party Leaders that chose the candidates This system made many people upset for the common person had little say The nomination system changed to conventions for nominations 1824 V Several Categories of Primaries a b Closed Primaries Oklahoma essentially party members are ONLY allowed to vote in party primaries Open Primaries Texas anyone is allowed to vote in party primaries c Blanket Primaries California all candidates of all parties are on the ballot like a wideopen primary d Non Partisan Primaries Louisiana all candidates are running in the same primary no matter the party
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