Lawyer

Your role is to research the current state of affairs with regards to attempts to reform or sustain the modern ECS. If your group has taken the Reform position, your job is to research the leading arguments against the ECS and the proposed new voting systems which would feasibly be used to replace the ECS. If your group has assumed the Defend position, your role is to research the leading arguments for the maintenance of the ECS and the best responses to the leading critics or reformers of the ECS. Carefully consider that both the Reform and Defend positions have been selected.

You might get involved in the legal ramifications if Colorado votes November 2, 2004, to have all their electoral votes go to the candidate who wins their popular vote.
Research the legal positions that will support your groups’ decision to Reform or Defend.

Lawyer, your notes are below, print them out and use them as a guide to your research and final project. You will need Adobe Acrobat to download these notes.

• Lawyer Notes (7 kb)

General ECS information Links:

U.S. Electoral College Site
http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/electoral_college/about.html

Electoral College Calculator:
http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/calculator.html

Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Electoral_College

Links Specific to your Role:

Electoral College vs. The People
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/campaign2000race.html

CNN - Electoral College system understood by few (Nov. 2000)
http://www.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/11/02/electoral.college/

USA Today - Electoral College debate intensifies (Sept. 2004)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-09-24-electoral-college_x.htm

BBC News - Q&A: US elections (Nov. 2004)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3354267.stm

CBS News - Electoral College Primer
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2000/11/08/politics/main247900.shtml

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