PhD Doctorate

Electoral College Simulation Exercise

POL/115 Version 2

University of Phoenix Material


Electoral College Simulation Exercise


Please review the following chart which contains the Electoral College votes assigned to each state and the District of Columbia, and the popular vote results for each state and the District of Columbia in a simulated American presidential election. Based on information contained in the chart determine the following:


  1. The total popular vote won by Candidate A and Candidate B in the election

  2. Which presidential candidate, A or B, won the Electoral College vote for each state and the District of Columbia, and how many total Electoral College votes did Candidate A and Candidate B receive?. Assume for this simulation that all 50 states and the District of Columbia award their Electoral College votes on a “winner-take-all” basis.

Name of State

Number of Electoral College Votes assigned to state

Popular vote for Candidate A cast in the state

Popular Vote for Candidate B cast in the state

Which Candidate, A or B, won the state’s Electoral College vote?

Alabama

1,159,245

749,948

Alaska

195,227

112,878

Arizona

11

1,089,449

975,674

Arkansas

554,724

478,912

California

55

5,976,048

6,350,244

Colorado

1,076,124

1,055,465

Connecticut

714,368

824,202

Delaware

184,348

190,229

District of Columbia

90,108

125,978

Florida

29

4,129,997

3,784,259

Georgia

16

1,740,776

1,508,254

Hawaii

200,454

224,728

Idaho

376,989

245,774

Illinois

20

2,529,427

2,615,226

Indiana

11

1,257,070

1,148,334

Iowa

740,291

752,882

Kansas

645,822

512,678

Kentucky

997,244

878,421

Louisiana

1,002,124

924,855

Maine

332,427

368,399

Maryland

10

1,029,278

1,257,722

Massachusetts

11

1,284,589

1,596,331

Michigan

16

2,414,777

2,391,872

Minnesota

10

1,346,676

1,431,624

Mississippi

649,442

502,292

Missouri

10

1,245,978

1,440,356

Montana

259,129

174,434

Nebraska

499,927

276,321

Nevada

398,727

412,012

New Hampshire

340,492

332,638

New Jersey

14

1,792,442

1,874,209

New Mexico

369,284

370,544

New York

29

3,688,421

3,828,477

North Carolina

15

1,745,228

1,628,476

North Dakota

197,245

110,289

Ohio

18

2,829,687

2,777,421

Oklahoma

845,779

624,552

Oregon

901,244

904,100

Pennsylvania

20

2,797,494

2,840,542

Rhode Island

200,440

210,402

South Carolina

850,050

714,846

South Dakota

230,727

154,786

Tennessee

11

1,242,797

1,096,385

Texas

38

3,789,459

3,598,334

Utah

500,450

401,290

Vermont

122,774

182,104

Virginia

13

1,547,994

1,607,747

Washington

12

1,390,224

1,420,462

West Virginia

364,449

367,429

Wisconsin

10

1,492,421

1,477,202

Wyoming

130,757

100,527


Total Number of Electoral College Votes won by Candidate A: _________


Total Number of Electoral College Votes won by Candidate B: _________


Total Popular Votes won by Candidate A: _________________________


Total Popular Votes won by Candidate B: _________________________




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