Elections and voting

The Electoral College

Why the person with the most votes doesn't automatically win. Walks through electors, the 270 threshold, and what happens in a 269–269 tie.

Grades 3–5~35 minNonpartisan

Word document — open it in Word, Pages, or Google Docs and adapt it for your class.

01 Warm-up 5 min

Warm-up:

    • In your own words, what do you think is voting and have you ever voted on something?
02 Lecture 10 min

Lecture:

    • What is voting?:
      • Voting is the act of choosing someone or something in an election.
    • What is the electoral college?:
      • The electoral college is the official system used in the United States to indirectly elect the president and the vice president.
    • What is the electors?:
      • They are the real people who are chosen by political parties to cast official votes for the president and vice president.
      • They could include party leaders, local activists, and loyal supporters. In all there are 538 electors and a candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win.
    • How electoral colleges work
      • First, people vote for the candidates that they want.
      • In most states, the candidate who receives the majority of the votes wins all of the states electoral votes.
      • Those electoral votes are then added together from all 50 states and Washington D.C.
      • In the end, whatever candidate gets the 270 votes wins.
    • What happens if there is a tie?
      • If there is a 269 split, then the decision goes to Congress and the newly sworn House of Representatives chooses the President while the Senate chooses the Vice President.
03 Games 2 activities

2 interactive games:

    • Blooket: https://dashboard.blooket.com/set/6a6e06370c9b1ebedb9f623d
    • Split groups into 4 people and then ask the whole class to vote on a topic (could be as simple as “what is better pizza or pasta?”). The groups will then tally up who likes what on a flashcard. Then the cards will be collected and would simulate what an electoral college would do to announce what side won. (*Point of the game is to give students better understanding of EC)
04 Wrap-up 5 min

Wrap-up:

    • Now you know what the electoral college is, what are your thoughts on it?