Helpful Electoral College resources
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David Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections shows how the system worked in each past election.
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270toWin has an interactive map, current predictions, and about past elections.
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The National Archives provides links to historical documents and current laws.
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Electoral College curriculum is available from izzit.org.
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PragerU has videos with Tara Ross and an episode of Street Smarts.
Electoral College Facts & Presidential Election Trivia
Why do we have the 12th Amendment?
Originally, presidential electors cast two votes—but both were for president, with the runner up becoming vice president. The problem? Bitter rivals could be elected together. That’s what happened, leading to the 12th Amendment, which says electors cast separate votes for president and vice president.
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Why was Andrew Jackson so mad?
In 1824, there were four serious candidates—all from the same party!—and no one got a majority of electoral votes. The House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams, even though Andrew Jackson had received more electoral votes (99 to 84—but back then it took 131 to win). Still, Jackson came back to win in 1828 and 1832.
Why did civil rights opponents try to end the Electoral College?
In the 1950s, a few Southern members of Congress hatched a plan to reduce the power of minority voters by eliminating the Electoral College. They were upset that the Democratic Party needed black and Jewish voters to win in northern states, giving those voters a growing voice in American politics. They lost to Electoral College supporters like JFK, who went on to be elected president in 1960.
Who got the most popular votes in 1960?
Who you credit with the most popular votes in 1960 depends on how you count those votes. This is because Alabama did not have party slates of electors, but voted for them as individuals. If you count votes for Democrat-leaning electors as votes for Kennedy, then he got the most popular votes (just barely). If you don’t, then Nixon did. Either way, Kennedy won the Electoral College.
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How does a person become a presidential elector?
Each political party has a state convention, where delegates do official business like adopting a platform and electing delegates to their national convention. They also nominate people to be presidential electors. If their party wins their state, those people become the state’s presidential electors. (Not all state rules and laws are the same, but this is how it works for the major political parties in most states.)