Objective 4.

5
Explain the procedures
used to elect the President
and Vice President

The Election Process

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Declare your candidacy

Announce you are running for office

Campaign

Advertise yourself to voters

Run in primaries

Practice elections to narrow down candidates

One Candidate is nominated at a party convention

Primary winner is chosen

Campaign for general election
General Election

Citizens vote in an official election

To become President
there is one extra step

a candidate must win

the majority of
electoral college
votes

Electoral College
Constitutional system used to elect the
President and Vice President

Electors
On election day, Citizens
vote to tell state electors
who to vote for

The Electors cast the

official vote for
President

# of Electors=
states representation in Congress:

# senators + # HOR
Virginia has 2 Senators and 11
Representatives=
Virginia has 13 electors

Electors
States with more people will have more electors

How does the electoral college

system work?

How does the

electoral
college system
work?

On election day
A general election is held
(people vote)

The popular vote of each

state is counted separately
Candidates compete to win
electoral votes of each state

On election day
Think of it as 51 separate
elections being held on the
same day!

Winning electoral votes

To win electoral votes
of a state, a
candidate must win
state popular vote

Winner take all system

If candidate wins the majority
popular vote in a state, they win all
electoral votes

Winner take all system

2012 Election in Virginia
Romney wins 49% popular vote
Obama wins 51 % popular vote
Obama wins all 13 electoral

To become President
a candidate must win
the majority of the
electoral votes
nationwide

A majority of total state electors is

needed to win the Presidency
535 state electors + 3 from D.C.= 538
total electors
270 electors =51%

A candidate can win the national

Popular vote and lose the electoral vote

2000 Election

Gore wins nations popular vote

Bush wins electoral vote
Bush wins election

If no candidate wins a majority,

Election goes to Congress

House chooses President;

Senate chooses V-P

Electoral college
favors a 2-party system:

it is very difficult to get a

majority of votes if there are
more than 2 political parties