Reference no: EM132904372

Outline the argument identifying premise statements with a (P), support for premise statements with a (S) and the conclusion with a (C)

Few aspects of the presidential election process are as controversial as the electoral college. The institution was created by the Founding Fathers and enshrined in the Constitution. When Americans go to the polls, they do not directly elect the president. Instead, they are technically voting for a slate of electors. Each party that has a candidate on the ballot in a particular state chooses a group of electors that equals that state's congressional delegation. For instance, Arizona has two senators and eight members of the House of Representatives. Therefore the state has ten electoral votes. Prior to the election, each party picks ten people to serve as electors and if their candidate wins a majority in the polling, that candidate receives all ten electoral votes. After the election, all of the electors from each of the states meet in Washington, D.C., and formally cast their votes. There are 538 electoral votes, and to be elected president, a candidate must have a majority, or 270 electoral votes. Even if candidates receive a majority of the popular vote, if they do not win a majority of the electoral vote, they are not elected president. On four occasions in American history, a candidate has won the popular vote but lost in the electoral college. If no candidate receives a majority of the electoral votes, the House of Representatives decides the election. The last time that happened was in 1824.