Elections, Parties, and Pressure Groups
Session 10: Electoral College Simulation

Materials

• Political Process Vocabulary List (Attachment A)
• Electoral Vote Tallies

Instructional Activities

1. Write the day's vocabulary words on an overhead or on the board (see Attachment A). Briefly discuss their meanings.
   
   
2. Explain that the class is going to simulate the Electoral College. Decide on two candidates for office. Divide the class into 5 to 7 groups of various sizes to represent states of different sizes. Ask the candidates to campaign among the "states" for votes. After 10 to 15 minutes, ask students to vote within their state and then tally the electoral votes, using the winner-take-all system.
   
   
3. Discuss the strategies used by the candidates and the reasons for those strategies. Did the winner-take-all system cause results different from the popular vote?
   
   
4. For homework, ask students to write 10 questions to use in tomorrow's review game. Also, announce that there will be a short vocabulary quiz.