How We Elect The President

This interactive activity demonstrates the Electoral College to students from primary grades to middle school students, as well as students with special needs.

Students create their own election with or without teacher assistance based on their questions regarding our most recent election in which one candidate won the popular vote and the other one won the election by winning the most electoral votes.

The goal of this activity is to help students understand how this happened and why, as well as who created this system and when.

An activity involving three rounds of voting to help students understand what happens when the votes in states with smaller populations are given the same weight as states with larger populations in the Electoral College, giving all states equal powers to choose the President.

This activity can be individualized to address questions asked during inquiry. Or the activities can be used to create inquiry following each cycle of voting, or all of the questions can be asked at the end of all three voting cycles.

Links to two videos explaining how the Electoral College works that can be used to help explain the process to middle students or gifted students in lower grades are also included.

Hopefully, these activities will help students understand the confusion after our recent election about who won and why, as well as the importance of voting to have their voices heard.