yego.me
💡 Stop wasting time. Read Youtube instead of watch. Download Chrome Extension

Sal teaches Grover about the electoral college | US government and civics | Khan Academy


2m read
·Nov 11, 2024

[Music] But for me, both for cute and adorable Grover, I am pro ABC's and 4 one 2 threes! Plus, I promise I have no skeletons in my closet. I do not even have one in my body.

Hey Grover, what are you doing?

Oh hello there, Sal Khan! I am just running for president of the United States of America. I heard there was an upcoming election, so I figured, "Ah, why not?"

Well, that's great Grover!

Yeah, maybe we can help more people vote.

Oh, that would be terrific! So exactly how many votes do I need to win?

Well, you know about the Electoral College, right?

Of course, Sal baby! I know exactly what the Electrical—Electoral—Electoral College is great!

So why don't we explain it together for those who don't know?

Oh, my certainly! What a brilliant idea!

Um, [Music] why don't you start us off?

Sure! In a direct democracy, I, as a citizen, will vote for a candidate, and whichever candidate has the most popular votes in the country, they will become president. But we do not have a direct democracy; we have an indirect democracy. So what happens is I vote in my state. I live in California, and whichever candidate gets the most votes in California will get all of California's 55 electoral votes. And that's true in most states—whoever gets the most votes in that state gets all of the votes for that state, and that number comes from the number of Congress people California has.

Um, I am not following you.

So how can I explain it in a way that you might understand?

Chickens! I know chickens! Chickens—they are my biggest demo!

Okay, chickens. So instead of electors, we'll say chickens. Instead of the Electoral College, I'll say Chicken College.

Okay, that can follow!

Okay, the number of chicken votes for each state is equal to the number of Congress people for that state.

In every state?

Yes! From California to the New York Island, from the Redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters! Yes, the 50 states! And so there are a total of 538 chicken votes in the Chicken College.

For example, Florida has 29 chicken votes, and that's the same as the 29 Congress people that they have—two senators and 27 representatives.

Oh, hello there, chickens!

Okay then, so how do I, candidate Grover, win the presidency?

Well, since there are 538 chicken votes in total, you just have to get more than half of those. More than half? Hmm, let me see here—uh, one carry the two divided by eight!

Grover, we know the actual number—you just have to get at least chicken votes in the Chicken College!

Just 270 chickens?

I can do that! 300 chickens just crossed the road to hear me speak at the rally!

Oh great! Do you have your speech?

Oh yeah, it's right there! Did they put it?

Dude! Ah, I'll just wing it!

Bye! So, bye Grover! Now get out there and vote!

More Articles

View All
Messages For The Future
Hey, Vsauce. Michael here. This is Earth as seen from Saturn. That is us right there. And if you look closely, okay, see this little protuberance? That’s the Moon. This image was taken by the Cassini spacecraft on July 19th, 2013, at 21:27 Coordinated Uni…
We Don’t Want Pleasure; We Just Want the Pain to End
Pleasure. We’re all after it in some way or another. Some limit themselves or are limited to simple pleasures. Others live lavishly, spending fortunes indulging in expensive delights just to experience a bit of satisfaction – and our consumerist culture e…
Market demand as the sum of individual demand | APⓇ Microeconomics | Khan Academy
In this video, we’re going to think about the market for apples. But the more important thing isn’t the apples; it’s to appreciate that the demand curves for a market are really the sum of the individual demand curves for every member of that market. Most…
Force vs. time graphs | Impacts and linear momentum | Physics | Khan Academy
There’s a miniature rocket ship, and it’s full of tiny aliens that just got done investigating a new moon with lunar pools and all kinds of organic new life forms. But they’re done investigating, so they’re going to blast off and take their findings home …
Multiplying 1-digit numbers by 10, 100, and 1000 | Math | 4th grade | Khan Academy
Let’s talk about multiplying by 10, 100, and 1,000. There’s some cool number patterns that happen with each of these, so let’s start here with something like 4 * 10—one that maybe we’re comfortable with or already know. 4 * 10 would be the same as saying…
These Mini-Ships Teach Pilots How to Navigate Major Waterways | National Geographic
When you look at the ships, you may think that they’re small toys. But the minute you get on it, the power is to scale to the size, and it becomes very real, very quickly. When we build a new ship, the first question is, is this ship correct? Is it close …