Unit 4; Voting and Elections

Electoral College

institution that elects the president and vice president every four years.

United States do not directly elect the president, they elect…

representatives, called “electors,” who pledge to vote for a particular presidential candidate.

The number of electors in each state is equal to the number of members of _______ each state has

Congress

A candidate must receive ____ electoral votes in order to be elected president

270

when neither presidential candidate wins 270 electoral votes, the ___________ must decide the winner

House of Representatives

winner-take-all” basis

if a candidate wins the largest percentage of the popular vote in a state, that person receives all the state’s electoral votes.

• causes candidates to really focus on the large states since those states tend to have more electors

• candidates can receive millions of votes in a state (ex. Democrats 5.5 million votes and Republicans 5.7 million votes, Republicans win), yet lose the state's electoral votes

Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (Congress effect)

effort to ban the use of soft money on campaigns and also reduce the viciousness of attack ads

“Stand by Your Ad” provision

candidate had to officially endorse the ads produced by his campaign. This is why many political ads now end with the message “I’m (candidates name) and I approve this message”

Buckley v. Valeo (1976) (Supreme Court effect)

court ruled that campaign spending is a form of speech and can therefore be protected under the First Amendment to the Constitution. Therefore, limiting the amount of money a person can give could limit their freedom of speech

• led to an increase in political donations and contributed to the skyrocketing cost of running a successful campaign

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission in 2010 (Supreme Court Effect)

expanded the Buckley ruling to include corporation’s spending as protected speech as well under the first amendment. This case expanded the power of corporations to influence campaign spending.

Civic responsibilities

duties that all citizens are expected to do for their country (voting, paying taxes, becoming educated, staying well informed, dedicating time to public service, and caring for our communities)