Question

most states have a winner - take - all system for the electoral college, meaning if a candidate wins the majority of a states popular vote, the candidate wins all the electoral votes for that state. only maine and nebraska split their electoral votes between candidates. imagine two candidates, alexs wilson and charles smith, received the following votes in california. in which cases would alexis wilson win all 54 of californias electoral votes? select all that apply. wilson: 7,000,000 smith: 9,000,000 wilson: 8,000,001 smith: 8,000,000 wilson: 14,000,000 smith: 2,000,000 wilson: 6,000,000 smith: 10,000,000

Explanation:

Step1: Compare Wilson and Smith's votes

For a candidate to win all electoral votes in a state (with winner - take - all system), the candidate must have more popular votes than the other candidate.

• In the first case: Wilson has \(7,000,000\) votes and Smith has \(9,000,000\) votes. Since \(7,000,000<9,000,000\), Wilson does not win.
• In the second case: Wilson has \(8,000,001\) votes and Smith has \(8,000,000\) votes. Since \(8,000,001 > 8,000,000\), Wilson wins.
• In the third case: Wilson has \(14,000,000\) votes and Smith has \(2,000,000\) votes. Since \(14,000,000>2,000,000\), Wilson wins.
• In the fourth case: Wilson has \(6,000,000\) votes and Smith has \(10,000,000\) votes. Since \(6,000,000<10,000,000\), Wilson does not win.

Answer:

Wilson: \(8,000,001\), Smith: \(8,000,000\) and Wilson: \(14,000,000\), Smith: \(2,000,000\)