U.S. Electoral College

High school (ages 12+)
People & Society

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Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/us-electoral-college

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the minimum electoral votes for victory?270 electoral votes are required to win the presidency
2. What is the notable elections with popular vote/electoral vote split?1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016
3. What is the Electoral College and why does it exist?The Electoral College is a special team that picks the president instead of everyone voting directly. It was created to balance direct voting with concerns about uninformed voters and to give a more thoughtful choice.
4. How are the number of electors for each state decided?Each state gets electors equal to its number of Representatives in the House plus its two Senators. This gives smaller states a slightly greater weight in the Electoral College.

Constitutional Convention: The 1787 assembly that drafted the United States Constitution, including the framework for the Electoral College.
Winner-Take-All System: A method where the candidate receiving the most popular votes in a state wins all of that state's electoral votes.
Swing States: States where the outcome of a presidential election is unpredictable and can significantly influence the national result.
National Popular Vote Interstate Compact: An agreement among U.S. states to award their electoral votes to the candidate who wins the national popular vote.