Electoral College/Virginia

My students often have a hard time understanding the Electoral College. Just last week I showed them two video clips. The first was the actual footage from the electoral vote in Virginia on December 15, 2008. (The Virginia State Board of Elections has two YouTube videos on their website. Part One is mainly filled with a speech from Tim Kaine. Part Two shows footage of the actual votes being cast).
I then showed them the official Electoral Vote count in a Joint Session of Congress on January 8, 2009. From what my students told me, this made the actual process easier to understand. Some students told me that they thought that the electoral vote was "digitally" sent to Washington. They also enjoyed watching Dick Cheney and Nancy Pelosi making small talk while they waited for Congress to come to order.

And, if you choose to be a bit silly with them, you can always show them Schoolhouse Rock's interpretation of the Electoral College.