Question

1. use prior knowledge and the chart above to answer the following question. in the 1912 presidential election, woodrow wilson had 64 percent more of the electoral vote than any other candidate. how is that margin possible if only 42 percent of all voters chose him? most states used a winner - take - all system, which awarded wilson all of their electors even when he only won by a small margin. many of the electors chose wilson even though the voters in their states had actually chosen taft or roosevelt. many of the states did not recognize roosevelt on the ballot because he was a member of the bull moose party rather than a republican or democrat. technology had not advanced far enough to create ballot machines, so many of the states miscounted the votes.

Explanation:

To determine the answer, we analyze the 1912 election context. The winner - take - all electoral system (used by most states) means that if a candidate wins a state (even by a small margin), they get all of that state's electoral votes. Wilson got a large electoral vote margin because in many states, even though his popular vote share was only 42%, the winner - take - all system awarded him all the electors of those states. The other options are incorrect: electors didn't go against state voters' choices in a widespread way, states did recognize Roosevelt (he was on the ballot as a Progressive), and vote miscounting due to technology isn't related to this electoral - popular vote discrepancy.

Answer:

The option "Most states used a winner - take - all system, which awarded Wilson all of their electors even when he only won by a small margin."