electoral college test

Define Census

Survey that counts the population every 10 years

Define apportionment

Determining/distributing the number of representatives per state. Done after census every 10 years.

Define Redistricting

Re-drawing and setting up new congressional district lines due to shifting populations over the last 10 years

Define gerrymandering

The drawing of electoral district boundaries to favor the party in control of the state to gain an advantage in elections(often illegal)

How many house members does California have?

52 House seats

Define Incumbent

People already in office seeking reelection. Incumbent wins 90% of the time.

Define packing in terms of gerrymandering

Drawing lines so they include as many of the opposing party's voters as possible so that neighboring districts are safe for the majority party's candidates.

Define cracking in terms of gerrymandering

Dividing an opponent's voters into other districts to weaken the opponent's voter base

Define primary election

An election within a political party to determine who will represent that party for an election.

Define general election

An election for office in which different candidates from different political parties compete. All registered voters may vote for any of the different candidates.

Define constituent

People who an elected official represents

Define electorate

The people who are entitled to vote during an election

Define Majority vote

An election that requires a candidate to earn 50.1% of the vote or more.

Define Pluarlity

The largest vote earner wins even if they do not get a majority.

When are elections held?

Held early November on a Tuesday.

How many electoral votes does a candidate need to win?

270 votes of 538

Equation for state electoral votes

#of House Members + Senators

How many total House Members are there in the US?

435

How many U.S. Senators are there?

100--2 per state

How many total electoral votes are in the US?

538

Why are the 538 electoral votes--not 535?

Washington DC gets 3 electoral votes

100 Senators + 435 House Seats = 535 Electoral votes + 3 for DC = 538

How does a candidate win the presidency--popular votes or electoral votes?

Electoral votes: 270 of 538 needed to win

How does a presidential candidate win a state's electoral votes

Whichever candidate wins a plurality of popular votes in a state wins ALL of that state's electoral votes

What happens if there is a tie or no one wins a majority of electoral votes? Who chooses the president

the House of Representatives would choose the president if no candidate wins at least 270 of 538 electoral votes.

In the House, each state would get 1 vote for president

What is a "faithless elector"

an elector who doesn't vote in the way that the state's majority goes.

(ie, A state votes for the democratic candidate John Doe but the faithless elector casts their electoral vote for anyone other than John Doe.

How can a presidential candidate win the popular vote but lose the electoral vote and therefore lose the presidential election?

1. A candidate only needs a plurality of votes to win ALL of the state's electoral votes.

2. Recently, 2 democratic presidential nominees won large amounts of popular votes in a few large populous blue states (CA, NY). But the Republican candidate won pluralities by slim margins in more red states--winning more electoral votes..

3. The democrat kept adding to their popular vote totals in the many smaller states by losing by small margins. However ALL of those state's electoral votes went to the republican candidate.