Electoral College Critique Essay
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What is it?
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A group of people who gather to cast their votes for the various presidential candidates.
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Why was it created?
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1. Feared Direct democracy-population wouldn't make the right choice 2.Founding father's wanted to protect the interest of smaller states. 3.It made the bigger states votes not as effective as smaller states, because the rest of the country might have different issues.
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What are the biggest flaws?
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A candidate can win a popular vote but not win the presidency. The second flaw is that the Constitution does not require the electors to vote for the candidate who wins the popular vote. Third, if neither candidate wins a majority in the electoral college, the election would have to be decided in the House of Representatives.
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How many votes must one win to be President?
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270 votes
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How many total vote are available?
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538 votes
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How are electoral votes in each state determined?
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Each state and district of columbia get 1 electoral vote for each u.s senator and representative
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What does it mean to be a winner take all state?
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The presidential candidate who receives the largest number of popular votes wins all of that state's electoral votes.
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What does it mean to be a proportional state?
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Each state is assigned a number that is proportional to its population, so that each state's power is representative of its population. Will split votes based on population.
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How many voters does Kansas have?
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6 (2 senators and 4 representatives)
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What is a faithless elector?
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An elector who doesn't vote for their own candidate they pledged to vote.
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Why is it unlikely that the electoral college will change much even though there are issues?
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Winner of the popular vote has lost the election only 5 times in 56 presidential elections. The electoral college is a known process. It identifies the President quickly and certainly It helps promote the nation's two-party system.
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How many times in the last 20 years has the pop, vote winner lost the election?
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1824: John Quincy Adams 1876: Rutherford B. Hayes 1888: Benjamin Harrison 2000: George W. Bush 2016: Donald Trump
