How to Teach Kids About the Electoral College
Most kids learn about voting and civics from teachers who espouse democracy as a founding principle for the United States. The Electoral College is a concept that can complicate lessons about the Constitution and the power of the public in America. You need to take a creative approach when you teach kids about the Electoral College if you want to avoid confusion.
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Instructions
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Begin to teach kids about the Electoral College with an examination of colonial America. Students cannot understand the development of the Electoral College without appreciating the Founders' fear of unhindered democracy following a spurned monarchy.
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Highlight the legislative and electoral policies offered by members of the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Your students need to appreciate the tension between proportional representation in the Virginia Plan and the even representation of the New Jersey Plan when learning about the Electoral College.
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Study the Constitutional Amendments influencing voting rights as you teach kids about the Electoral College. The National Archives and Records Administration provides a list of Amendments that influenced the demographic dynamics of the Electoral College, such as those offering suffrage to African-Americans, women and young adults over the age of 18 (see Resources below).
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Arrange students into individual states to highlight the mathematics of the Electoral College. Run multiple elections during a single academic quarter to show off the hundreds of ways in which electoral votes can be divided between candidates.
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Place the Electoral College into historical context by replaying close elections. A review of presidential races in 1876, 1912, 1960 and 2000 shows the complicated mechanics of the Electoral College. The National Archives has state-by-state electoral votes for tightly contested elections like the 1876 contest between Samuel Tilden and Rutherford B. Hayes (see Resources below).
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Intertwine the symbolic importance of the national popular vote with lessons on the Electoral College. Students need to know that popular vote numbers in each state are more crucial to electoral victory than national popularity at the polls.
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Conclude your review of the Electoral College with a section on the appointment process for electors. You should use examples from states like Massachusetts, which highlights elector information through its Secretary of State website (see Resources below).
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Assign a final project for your section on the Electoral College that asks students to think about alternatives. Your students should research proposals for the use of the popular vote, run-off voting and other methods that have arisen during times of electoral crisis.
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Tips & Warnings
Discuss the influence of third-party candidates and faithless electors when teaching older kids about the Electoral College. Candidates outside of the two-party system, like Theodore Roosevelt in 1912 and Ross Perot in 1992, have influenced national results. Faithless electors submit their vote in opposition to the will of the popular vote in their state.
