Fandom High School

After hearing today's announcement, Josh had taken the precaution of closing the classroom door after the government students had arrived.

Running toilets were just a little much.

"Okay, first of all, your final exam will be next Friday, April 28, so start your flailing early and avoid the rush." He kicked his feet onto his desk. "Today, we talk about the electoral college."

He gestured to a map on the board. "Every state and the District of Columbia is worth a certain number of electoral votes, which are used--rather than a straight popular vote--to determine who becomes President. A state's electoral vote number is the combination of the number of representatives it has in Congress added to its two Senators. Every state, therefore, has at least 3 electoral votes. California, with the most population, has 55 electoral votes.

"There are 538 electoral votes up for grabs--you need at least 270 of them to become President. In the history of the United States there have been four elections where the person who became President didn't also win the popular vote--1824, 1876, 1888 and 2000."

Josh scrubbed his hands through his hair. "There is always someone trying to abolish the electoral college, and the debate both for and against it have been raging since roughly 1824. Proponents say that it requires candidates to spend time in states that they'd normally avoid--Iowa, for instance, or Michigan--and tailor their message to the entire country rather than focussing exclusively on California, Texas, and Florida, where the population is. Opponents say that with a winner-take-all distribution of electoral college votes--a candidate can win a state by 40 votes and still get all of the electoral votes--it disenfranchises the voters who cast ballots for the other guy." He gestured lazily at the class. "What do you think?"