The battle for 270.

• Position: GRAPH: ELECTION 2012

When Americans go to the polls on November 6, they technically won't be voting for the nation's next president (see Electoral College 101, p. 14). Instead, they'll be casting votes for states of electors who've pledged to support a particular candidate. These electors will officially elect the president in mid-December. A candidate must win at least 270 of the total 538 electoral votes to win the presidency. As this graph shows, some recent Electoral College votes have been nail-biters, whereas others have been landslides.

ANALYZE THE GRAPH

(1) The closest Electoral College vote of the past eight elections occurred in --.

a 1988

b 1994

c 2000

d 2004

(2) Which candidate had the greatest victory in the Electoral College?

a Bill Clinton

b George H.W. Bush

c Barack Obama

d Ronald Reagan

(3) How many more electoral votes did Barack Obama win than John McCain?

a 78

b 136

c 192

d 201

(4) What percentage of Electoral College votes did Republican candidates win in the past eight elections?

a about 58 percent

b about 66 percent

c just over 72 percent

d just over 77 percent

(5) Between 1980 and 1988, California, New York, and Texas together had a total of 112 electoral votes. Based on the graph, which candidate might have won all of these states?

a Dukakis

b Carter

c Mondale

d none of the above

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

(1) What lopsided Electoral College totals do you notice on the bar graph? Do these surprise you? Why or why not?

(2) Nebraska and Maine divide their electors proportionally by district according to the number of popular votes each candidate receives. But the other states have a winner-takes-all system in which the candidate who wins the most popular votes gets at the state's electoral votes. What are the arguments for each approach? Which approach do you think makes more sense?

(3) How might the Electoral College system...