Which amount must a presidential candidate receive in order to win election?
1. more than half of all the votes in the electoral college.
2. the most votes from all the people
3. the largest number of votes in the electoral college.
4. a simple majority of the entire popular vote
1. more than half of all the votes in the electoral college.
The correct answer is option 3: the presidential candidate must receive the largest number of votes in the electoral college in order to win the election.
To understand why this is the case, it's important to know how the U.S. presidential election works. The United States uses an indirect system called the electoral college to elect its president.
The electoral college consists of 538 electors who represent the states and the District of Columbia. Each state is assigned a certain number of electors based on its representation in Congress. The candidate who receives a majority of electoral votes (270 or more out of 538) wins the presidency.
The electors are typically chosen based on the popular vote within their respective states. However, it's important to note that the president is not directly elected by the popular vote nationwide. Instead, the popular vote determines how the electors are allocated within each state.
So, while a candidate may win the majority of the popular vote across the entire country (option 2) or a simple majority of the entire popular vote (option 4), those factors alone do not guarantee victory in the presidential election. The key is securing the most electoral votes (option 3) as that is the criterion for winning the election.