"The constitutionally mandated mechanism for selecting the president of the United States. A total of 538 votes exist in the Electoral College and are distributed among the American states based on the combined number of senators and representatives each state has in the U.S. Congress. In addition, the District of Columbia possesses three electoral votes. Each state selects the predetermined number of electors from its population—members of Congress and other federal officers are ineligible for selection—and has the body meet approximately one month after the American electorate votes in the general election. The outcome of the general election governs the votes of the members of the Electoral College, as all states but two (Maine and Nebraska) cast their votes in a winner-take-all fashion based on the winner of the general election in each state."
Text: Vaughn, Justin S. "Electoral College." Encyclopedia of American Political Parties and Elections, Larry J. Sabato, and Howard R. Ernst, Facts On File, 2nd edition, 2014. Credo Reference; https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/fofppae/electoral_college/0
The Electoral College by
The Electoral College is a complex system influenced by various factors in the United States' rich history. Some of the ideas behind the Electoral College--such as ensuring that smaller states were given a vote--still apply today. However, the Electoral College has changed over the years in ways that the framers of the Constitution did not anticipate. Learn everything you ever wanted to know about the Electoral College with this full-color informational text that explores contemporary issues through high-interest content! Packed with fun facts, fascinating sidebars, and featuring TIME© content and images, this nonfiction book has text features such as a glossary, an index, and a table of contents to engage students in reading as they build their comprehension, vocabulary, and reading skills. The Reader's Guide and extended Try It! activity increase understanding of the material, and develop higher-order thinking. Check It Out! offers print and online resources for additional reading. Keep students reading from cover to cover with this captivating text!
The Electoral College: An Analysis by
The electoral college system has evolved continuously since the first presidential election. Despite a number of close contests, this arrangement has selected the candidate with the most popular votes in 48 of 52 presidential elections since the current voting system was established. Three times, however, candidates were elected who won fewer popular votes than their opponents (1876, 1888, 2000). These controversial elections occurred because the system requires a majority of electoral, not popular, votes to win the presidency. This book examines the history of the electoral college, contemporary analysis and possible reform proposals.
Representation and the Electoral College by
Nearly 800 proposals have been made to amend or abolish the Electoral College, and its divisiveness raises many questions. What role do electors play in American democracy? How should they vote? Should the Electoral College exist at all? Much confusion surrounds this institution, in large part because of how the original Electoral College varies from its contemporary counterpart, the evolved Electoral College. This book helps readers to understand the distinction and how we got where we are today. Focusing on the controversial 2016 election, in which Trump received nearly three million fewer popular votes than Clinton, Representation and the Electoral College shows how the Electoral College acts on behalf of the American public and alters election outcomes. In exploring the origin, development, and practice of the Electoral College, this study also presents the most extensive analysis of presidential electors to date.
Saving the Electoral College: Why the National Popular Vote Would Undermine Democracy by
The 2016 election caused many pundits and citizens alike to decry the Electoral College. This book explains the dangerous and unconstitutional implications of the National Popular Vote Bill, which is quietly passing in state houses across the nation.Ever since the Founding Fathers created the Electoral College, Congress has tried to overturn it. The latest attempt is taking place not in Congress, but in state legislatures around the country, where a well-financed campaign by a private California group calling itself "National Popular Vote" (NPV) is proposing an "interstate compact" to circumvent the process for amending the U.S. Constitution. If adopted by states representing a majority of electoral votes, the signatory states would bind themselves to ignore the popular votes within their respective states, and instead allocate their electoral votes to the candidate whom the media proclaimed to be the "national popular vote" winner. In this new history of the Electoral College, law professor Robert M. Hardaway lays bare the constitutional loopholes that have allowed this movement to succeed in states representing approximately half the electoral votes necessary to purportedly bind those states to ignore the popular vote of the people within their respective states. The presentation of the information in this book to state legislatures considering the compact, resulted in complete reversal of preconceived perceptions about how presidential elections should be conducted.
A Short History of Presidential Election Crises: (And How to Prevent the Next One) by
An urgent primer on what can be done to combat emerging threats to the core of U.S. Democracy--presidential elections. In 2000, we learned that an exceptionally close presidential election can produce chaos, because we have no reliable Constitutional mechanism for resolving disputes. Joe Biden just won a presidential election that was extremely close in a number of states. Trump--and his many supporters--refuse to accept the legitimacy of those vote results, leading to an insurrection at the Capitol Building. Where do we go from here? In A Short History, Constitutional scholar Alan Hirsch presents a concise history of presidential elections that resulted in crises and advocates clear, common-sense solutions, including abolishing the Electoral College and the creation of a permanent, non-partisan Presidential Election Review Board to prevent or remedy future crises. "Hirsch does a very good job of offering historical context to illuminate the present--and the terrifying future. His imaginative proposals are probably too sensible to be implemented in an age of parochial partisanship."--David Shipler, former reporter for the New York Times and Pulitzer Prize winner "Democracy is broken, but as Alan Hirsch explains, it really doesn't have to be. This is the real story of how our voting system became so vulnerable to attacks from within and without, told with precision, verve, and even hope. This is the way out."--Douglas Rushkoff, author of Team Human "This is a must-read for anyone who cares about safeguarding presidential electionsâe*which should be everyone."--Evan Caminker, Professor and former Dean, University of Michigan Law School "The noted law historian, author of Impeaching the President, examines the handful of seriously problematic presidential elections in American history and what the Constitution elucidates about the process of undoing such an event--namely, nothing. . . . A highly relevant study featuring much food for thought and prospects for change."--Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review " [A] seminal work of meticulous and informative scholarship that should be considered as an essential and unreservedly recommended addition to community, college, and university library Contemporary Political Science collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia, political activists, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject."--Midwest Library Review
