The Electoral College is the body of representatives which formally elects the President and Vice President of the United States. The President of the United States is the Head of state and Head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in United States by The Vice President of the United States is the first person in the presidential line of succession, becoming the new President of the United States upon the death
Rather than directly voting for the President and Vice President, U. S. citizens cast votes for electoral college representatives, known as electors. While electors are theoretically free to vote for the candidate of their choice, in practice they pledge to vote for specific candidates. [1] Thus, voters indirectly vote for Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates by voting for correspondingly pledged electors. [2] Because all of the electors from a state will generally vote for the Presidential candidate that receives the most votes in that state, U. S. Presidential campaigns concentrate on winning the popular vote in a combination of states that choose a majority of the electors, rather than campaigning to win the most votes nationally.
Currently, the Electoral College is composed of 538 electors. [3] Each state has a number of electors equal to the number of its Senators and Representatives in the United States Congress. A US state is any one of the fifty subnational entities of the United States of America that share Sovereignty with the federal government The United States Congress is the bicameral Legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses Additionally, the District of Columbia is given a number of electors equal to the number held by the smallest states. Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D [4] U. S. territories are not represented in the Electoral College. Territories of the United States are one type of political division of the United States, administered by the U
Each elector casts two votes: one for President and one for Vice President. In order to be elected, a candidate must have a majority (currently 270) of the Electoral Votes. Should no candidate for President win a majority of the electoral votes, the choice is given to the House of Representatives. The United States House of Representatives is one of the two chambers of the United States Congress; the other is the Senate. [5] Should no candidate for Vice President possess a majority of the electoral votes, the choice is given to the Senate. The United States Senate is the Upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the Lower house being the House of Representatives [6]
The Constitution allows each state legislature to designate a method of choosing electors. The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme Law of the United States. Although not originally the case in a majority of states, at present, 48 states and the District of Columbia have adopted a winner-takes-all popular vote rule–– voters choose between statewide slates of electors pledged to vote for a specific Presidential and Vice Presidential candidate. The candidate that wins the most votes in the state wins the support of all of that state’s electors. Two other states, Maine and Nebraska, use a tiered system where a single elector is chosen within each Congressional district and two electors are chosen by statewide popular vote. Because the vast majority of electors are chosen by a statewide vote, U. S. Presidential elections are effectively an amalgamation of 51 separate and simultaneous first past the post elections, rather than a single national election. The plurality voting system is a Single-winner voting system often used to elect executive officers or to elect members of a legislative assembly which is based on single-member
Candidates with less than a plurality of the nationwide popular vote can win a Presidential election. This has happened on several occasions in American history. [7] Critics argue the Electoral College is inherently undemocratic and gives certain swing states disproportionate clout in selecting the President and Vice President. A swing state (also battleground state or purple state) in United States Adherents argue that the Electoral College is an important and distinguishing feature of the federal system, and protects the rights of smaller states. The federal government of the United States is the central United States Governmental body established by the United States Constitution. Numerous constitutional amendments have been submitted seeking a replacement of the Electoral College with a direct popular vote. However, due to the difficulty of amending the Constitution, no submission has ever successfully passed both Houses of Congress. Article Five of the United States Constitution describes the process whereby the Constitution may be altered
Background
At the Constitutional Convention, the Virginia Plan used as the basis for discussions called for the Executive to be elected by the Legislature. The Philadelphia Convention (now also known as the Constitutional Convention, the Federal Convention, or the " Grand Convention at Philadelphia The Virginia Plan (also known as the Randolph Plan, after its sponsor or Large-State Plan) was a proposal by Virginia delegates drafted by [8] Delegates from a majority of states agreed to this mode of election. [9] However, a committee formed to work out various details, including the mode of election of the President, recommended instead that the election be by a group of people apportioned among the states in the same numbers as their representatives in Congress (the formula for which had been resolved in lengthy debates resulting in the Connecticut Compromise and Three-fifths compromise), but chosen by each state "in such manner as its Legislature may direct. The Connecticut Compromise, also known as the Great Compromise, was an essential agreement between large and small states reached during the Philadelphia Convention The Three-Fifths Compromise was a compromise between Southern and Northern states reached during the Philadelphia Convention of 1787 in which " Committee member Gouverneur Morris explained the reasons for the change; among others, there were fears of "intrigue" if the President was chosen by a small group of men who met together regularly, as well as concerns for the independence of the Office of the President. Gouverneur Morris ( January 31, 1752 November 6, 1816) was an American statesman who represented Pennsylvania in the [10] Though some delegates preferred popular election, the committee's proposal was approved, with minor modifications, on September 6. [11]
In the Federalist Papers No. The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 articles advocating the ratification of the United States Constitution. 39, James Madison argued that the Constitution was designed to be a mixture of state-based and population-based government. James Madison Jr (March 16 1751 – June 28 1836 was an American Politician, the fourth President of the United States (1809–1817 and one of the Founding Political federalism is a Political philosophy in which a group of members are bound together (Latin foedus, covenant) with a governing Proportional representation (sometimes referred to as full representation or PR is a category of electoral formula aiming at a close match between the percentage of votes The Congress would have two houses, one state-based (Senate) and the other population-based (House of Representatives) in character, while the President would be elected by a mixture of the two modes, giving some electoral power to the states and some to the people in general. Both the Congress and the President would be elected by mixed state-based and population-based means. [12]
Origin of name
The name Electoral College is not given in the United States Constitution, and it was not until the early 1800s that it came into general usage as the designation for the group of citizens selected to cast votes for President and Vice President. It was first written into Federal law in 1845, and today the term appears in , in the section heading and in the text as "college of electors. Title 3 of the United States Code outlines the role of the President of the United States in the United States Code. "[13]
Original plan
Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 of the Constitution states:
| “ | Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector. | ” |
Article II, Section 1, Clause 4 of the Constitution states:
| “ | The Congress may determine the Time of choosing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States. | ” |
Article II, Section 1, Clause 3 of the Constitution provided for the original fashion by which the President and Vice President were to be chosen by the electors. The primary difference was that each elector voted for two Persons for President, rather than one vote for President and one vote for Vice President. After the choosing of the President, whoever had the most electoral votes, among the remaining candidates, would become the Vice President.
The emergence of political parties complicated matters in the elections of 1796 and 1800. The United States presidential election of 1796 was the first contested American presidential election and the first one to elect a President and Vice-President from opposing tickets In the United States Presidential election of 1800, sometimes referred to as the “Revolution of 1800” Vice President Thomas Jefferson defeated President John Adams In 1796, the winner of the election was John Adams, a member of the Federalist Party, and the runner up (and therefore the new Vice President) was Thomas Jefferson, a member of the opposition Democratic-Republican Party. John Adams (October 30 1735 July 4 1826 was one of the most influential Founding Fathers of the United States. The Federalist Party (or Federal Party) was an American political party in the period 1792 to 1816 with remnants lasting into the 1820s Thomas Jefferson (April 13 1743 – July 4 1826 was the third President of the United States (1801–1809 the principal author of the Declaration of Independence
In 1800, the candidates of the Democratic-Republican Party (Jefferson for President and Aaron Burr for Vice President) each tied for first place. This article discusses Aaron Burr (1756-1836 the US politician However, since all electoral votes were for President, Burr's votes were technically for him being President even though he was his party's second choice. Jefferson was so hated by Federalists that the party members sitting in Congress tried to elect Burr. The Congress deadlocked for 35 ballots as neither candidate received the necessary vote of a majority (nine) of the state delegations in the House. Only after Federalist Party leader Alexander Hamilton—who disliked Burr—made known his preference for Jefferson was the issue resolved on the 36th ballot.
In response to those elections, the Congress proposed the Twelfth Amendment—with electors casting one vote for President and one vote for Vice President—to replace the system outlined in Article II, Section 1, Clause 3. The Twelfth Amendment ( Amendment XII) to the United States Constitution provides the procedure by which the President and Vice President are The Twelfth Amendment was proposed in 1803 and was adopted in 1804.
Electoral College mechanics
The election of both the President and Vice President of the United States is indirect. Indirect election is a process in which voters in an Election do not actually choose between candidates for an office but rather elect persons who will then make the choice The constitutional theory is that, while the Congress is popularly elected by the people,[14] the President and Vice President are elected to be executives of a federation of independent states.
Presidential electors are selected on a state-by-state basis, as determined by the laws of each state. Each state uses the popular vote on Election Day to appoint electors (this was not the case for all states in the 18th and 19th century). Election Day in the United States is the day set by law for the selection of public officials by popular ballot Although ballots list the names of the presidential candidates, voters within the 50 states and Washington, D.C. actually choose electors for their state when they vote for President and Vice President. Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D These presidential electors in turn cast electoral votes for those two offices. Even though the aggregate national popular vote is calculated by state officials and media organizations, the national popular vote is not the basis for electing a President or Vice President.
A candidate must receive an absolute majority of electoral votes (currently 270) to win the Presidency. An absolute majority or majority of the entire membership (in American English, a Supermajority Voting requirement is a Voting basis If no candidate receives a majority in the election for President, or Vice President, that election is determined via a contingency procedure in the Twelfth Amendment, which is explained in detail below. The Twelfth Amendment ( Amendment XII) to the United States Constitution provides the procedure by which the President and Vice President are
Apportionment of electors
- Further information: United States congressional apportionment
The size of the Electoral College is equal to the total membership of both Houses of Congress (435 Representatives and 100 Senators) plus the three electors allocated to Washington, D.C., totaling 538 electors. United States congressional apportionment is the redistribution of the 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives among the 50 states in consequence Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D
Each state is allocated as many electors as it has Representatives and Senators in the United States Congress. The United States Congress is the bicameral Legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses [15][16] Since the most populous states have the most seats in the House of Representatives, they also have the most electors. The six states with the most electors are California (55), Texas (34), New York (31), Florida (27), Pennsylvania (21) and Illinois (21). California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. Texas ( is a state geographically located in the South Central United States and is also known as the Lone Star State. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous Florida ( is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ( often colloquially referred to as PA (its abbreviation by natives and Northeasterners is a state located in the Northeastern The State of Illinois ( roughly ill-i-NOY is a state of the United States of America, the 21st to be admitted to the Union. The seven smallest states by population—Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming—each have three electors. Alaska ( Аляска Alyaska) is a state in the United States of America, in the northwest of the North American continent Delaware ( is a state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Montana ( is a state in the Western United States. One-third of the state in the western part contains numerous mountain ranges (approximately 77 named of the northern North Dakota ( is a state located in the Midwestern and Western regions of the United States of America. South Dakota ( is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America. Vermont ( is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The State of Wyoming ( is a sparsely populated state in the western region of the United States. The number of representatives for each state is determined decennially by the United States Census, thus determining the number of electoral votes for each state until the next census reallocation. An anniversary (from the Latin anniversarius, from the words for year and to turn meaning (returning yearly known in English since c. The United States Census is a decennial Census mandated by the United States Constitution.
Under the Twenty-third Amendment, Washington, D. Amendment XXIII was the twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution which permits the District of Columbia to choose Electors C. is allocated as many electors as it would have if it were a state, except that it cannot have more electors than the least populous state. The least populous state (currently Wyoming) has three electors; thus, D. The State of Wyoming ( is a sparsely populated state in the western region of the United States. C. cannot have more than three electors itself. Even if D. C. were a state, its current population would entitle it to three electors; based on its population per electoral vote, the District of Columbia has the second highest per-capita Electoral College representation, after Wyoming. [17]
Nomination of electors
Candidates for elector are nominated by their state political parties in the months prior to Election Day. Election Day in the United States is the day set by law for the selection of public officials by popular ballot The U. S. Constitution delegates to each state the authority for nominating and choosing its electors. In some states, the electors are nominated in primaries, the same way that other candidates are nominated. Other states, such as Oklahoma, Virginia, and North Carolina nominate electors in party conventions. Oklahoma ( is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. The Commonwealth of Virginia ( is an American state North Carolina ( is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States In Pennsylvania, the campaign committees of each candidate name their candidates for presidential elector (an attempt to discourage faithless electors). The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ( often colloquially referred to as PA (its abbreviation by natives and Northeasterners is a state located in the Northeastern Faithless electors are members of the Electoral College who do not cast their electoral votes for the people they have pledged to vote for All states require the names of all electors to be filed with the state's Secretary of State (or equivalent) at least a month prior to Election Day.
Disqualification of electors
Under Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 of the U. Article Two' of the United States Constitution creates the Executive branch of the government, comprising the President and other executive S. Constitution, no person holding a federal office, either elected or appointed, may become an elector. [18] Under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment, any person who has sworn an oath to support the United States Constitution in order to hold either a state or federal office, and has then later rebelled against the United States, is barred from serving in the Electoral College. The Fourteenth Amendment ( Amendment XIV) to the United States Constitution is one of the post- Civil War Reconstruction Amendments, first An oath (from Anglo-Saxon āð, also called plight) is either a Promise or a Statement of Fact calling The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme Law of the United States. However, the Congress may remove this disability by a two-thirds vote in both Houses.
Election Day
Federal law sets Election Day for federal offices on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November. The electors pledged to a particular candidate are formally chosen in the popular election held on that day. That is, while many people believe they are voting for a particular candidate on Election Day in November, they are, in fact, casting their vote for that candidate's electors.
All states—except two—employ the winner-takes-all method, awarding their presidential electors as an indivisible bloc. The exceptions, Maine and Nebraska, select one elector within each congressional district by popular vote, and additionally select the remaining two electors by the aggregate, statewide popular vote. The State of Maine ( is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean Nebraska ( is a state located on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States and This method has been used in Maine since 1972, and in Nebraska since 1992.
Meetings of electors
Electors meet in their respective state capitals (or in the case of Washington, D. C. , within the District) on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, at which time they cast their electoral votes on separate ballots for President and Vice President.
The Electoral College never meets as one body. Although procedures in each state vary slightly, the electors generally follow a similar series of steps, and the Congress has constitutional authority to regulate the procedures the states follow. The meeting is opened by the election certification official—often each state's Secretary of State or equivalent—who reads the Certificate of Ascertainment. This document sets forth who was chosen to cast the electoral votes. Those present answer to their name, and they then fill any vacancies in their number. The next step is the selection of a president or chairman of the meeting, sometimes also with a vice chairman. The electors sometimes choose a secretary, often not himself an elector, to take the minutes of the meeting. In many states, political officials give short speeches at this point in the proceedings.
When the time for balloting arrives, the electors choose one or two people to act as tellers. Some states provide for the placing in nomination of a candidate to receive the electoral votes (the candidate for President of the political party of the Electors). Each elector submits a written ballot with the name of a candidate for President. In New Jersey, the electors cast ballots by checking the name of the candidate on a pre-printed card; in North Carolina, the electors write the name of the candidate on a blank card. New Jersey ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. North Carolina ( is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States The tellers count the ballots and announce the result. The next step is the casting of the vote for Vice President, which follows a similar pattern.
After the voting is complete, the electors complete the Certificate of Vote. This document states the number of electoral votes cast for President and Vice President, and who received those votes. The state election official usually has pre-printed forms ready, and the tellers usually only write down the number of votes cast for appropriate candidates. Five copies of the Certificate of Vote are completed and signed by each Elector. Multiple copies of the Certificate of Vote are signed, in order to provide multiple originals in case one is lost. One copy is sent to President of the U. S. Senate (the sitting Vice President of the United States) by certified mail.
A staff member of the Office of the Vice President (here, acting in his capacity as President of the Senate) collects the Certificates of Vote as they arrive and prepares them for the joint session of Congress. The Certificates are arranged—unopened—in alphabetical order and placed in two special mahogany boxes. The states Alabama through Missouri (including Washington, D. Alabama (formally the State of Alabama;) is a State located in the southern region of the United States of America. Missouri ( or) is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee C. ) are placed in one box, and the states Montana through Wyoming are placed in the second box. Montana ( is a state in the Western United States. One-third of the state in the western part contains numerous mountain ranges (approximately 77 named of the northern The State of Wyoming ( is a sparsely populated state in the western region of the United States.
Faithless electors
A faithless elector is one who casts an electoral vote for someone other than whom they have pledged to elect, or who refuses to vote for any candidate. Faithless electors are members of the Electoral College who do not cast their electoral votes for the people they have pledged to vote for Faithless electors are members of the Electoral College who do not cast their electoral votes for the people they have pledged to vote for On 158 instances, electors have not cast their votes for the presidential or vice presidential candidate to whom they were pledged. Of those, 71 votes were changed because the original candidate died before the elector was able to cast a vote. Two votes were not cast at all when electors chose to abstain from casting their electoral vote for any candidate. The remaining 85 were changed by the elector's personal interest, or perhaps by accident. Usually, the faithless electors act alone. An exception was in 1836, when 23 Virginia electors changed their votes together. The United States presidential election of 1836 is predominantly remembered for three reasons It was the last election until 1988 to result in the elevation The Commonwealth of Virginia ( is an American state In that year, Martin Van Buren's vice presidential running mate, Richard Johnson, did not receive an absolute majority of electoral votes for Vice President, but ultimately won the office on the first ballot by the United States Senate in 1837. Martin Van Buren (December 5 1782 July 24 1862 was the eighth President of the United States from 1837 to 1841 Richard Mentor Johnson (October 17 1780 or 1781 &ndash November 19 1850 was the ninth Vice President of the United States, serving in the administration of Martin The Vice President of the United States is the first person in the presidential line of succession, becoming the new President of the United States upon the death
There are laws to punish faithless electors in 24 states. In 1952, the constitutionality of state pledge laws was brought before the Supreme Court in Ray v. Blair, . The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary. Ray v Blair, 343 US 214 ( 1952) is a major decision of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Court ruled in favor of state laws requiring electors to pledge to vote for the winning candidate, as well as remove electors who refuse to pledge. As stated in the ruling, electors are acting as a functionary of the state, not the federal government. Therefore, states have the right to govern electors. The constitutionality of state laws punishing electors for actually casting a faithless vote, rather than refusing to pledge, has never been decided by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary. While many states may only punish a faithless elector after-the-fact, some such as Michigan have the power to cancel his or her vote. Michigan ( is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. [19]
As electoral slates are typically chosen by the political party or the party's presidential nominee, electors usually have high loyalty to the party and its candidate: a faithless elector runs a greater risk of party censure than criminal charges.
While not a "faithless elector" as such, there have been two instances in which a candidate died between the selection of the electors in November and the Electoral College vote in December. In the election of 1872, Democratic candidate Horace Greeley passed away before the meeting of the Electoral College; the electors who were to have voted for Greeley, finding themselves in a state of disarray, split their votes across several candidates, including three votes cast for the deceased Greeley. Please DO NOT flip the colors --> In the United States presidential election of 1872, incumbent President Ulysses S The Democratic Party is one of two major Political parties in the United States, the other being the Republican Party. Horace Greeley ( February 3, 1811 &ndash November 29, 1872) was an American editor of a leading newspaper, a founder However, President Ulysses S. Grant, the Republican incumbent, had already won an absolute majority of electors. Ulysses S Grant, born Hiram Ulysses Grant (April 27 1822 &ndash July 23 1885 was an American general and the eighteenth President of the United States Because it was the death of a losing candidate, there was no pressure to agree on a replacement candidate. Similarly, in the election of 1912, after the Republicans had nominated incumbent President William Howard Taft and Vice President James S. Sherman, Sherman died shortly before the election, too late to change the names on the ballot, thus causing Sherman to be listed posthumously. The United States presidential election of 1912 was fought among three major candidates two of whom had previously won election to the office The President of the United States is the Head of state and Head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in United States by William Howard Taft (September 15 1857 – March 8 1930 was an American politician, the twenty-seventh President of the United States, the tenth Chief Justice The Vice President of the United States is the first person in the presidential line of succession, becoming the new President of the United States upon the death James Schoolcraft Sherman (October 24 1855 &ndash October 30 1912 was a United States Representative from New York and the twenty-seventh Vice President That ticket finished third behind the Democrats (Woodrow Wilson) and the Progressives (Theodore Roosevelt), and the eight electoral votes that Sherman would have received were cast instead for Nicholas M. Butler. Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28 1856—February 3 1924 was the twenty-eighth President of the United States. The United States Progressive Party of 1912 was a political party created by a split in the Republican Party in the presidential election of 1912. Theodore Roosevelt (ˈroʊzəvɛlt October 27 1858 January 6 1919 also known as T Nicholas Murray Butler ( April 2, 1862 &ndash December 7, 1947) was an American philosopher diplomat and educator Electors pledged to a dead candidate are free to vote for whomever they wish just as electors pledged to a live candidate are.
Faithless electors have not changed the outcome of a presidential election in any election to date.
Joint session of Congress and the contingent election
The Twelfth Amendment mandates that the Congress assemble in joint session. The Twelfth Amendment ( Amendment XII) to the United States Constitution provides the procedure by which the President and Vice President are [20] Additionally, federal law mandates that such joint session to count the electoral votes and declare the winners of the election take place on the sixth day of January in the calendar year immediately following the meetings of the presidential Electors. [21] The meeting is held at 1:00 p. m. in the Chamber of the U. S. House of Representatives. The sitting Vice President is expected to preside, but in several cases the President pro tempore of the Senate has chaired the proceedings instead. The President pro tempore of the Senate is the second-highest-ranking official of the United States Senate and the highest-ranking senator The Vice President and the Speaker of the House sit at the podium, with the Vice President in the seat of the Speaker of the House. The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives is the presiding officer&mdashor speaker &mdashof the United States House of Representatives. Senate pages bring in the two mahogany boxes containing each state's certified vote and place them on tables in front of the Senators and Representatives. Each house appoints two tellers to count the vote. Relevant portions of the Certificate of Vote are read for each state, in alphabetical order. If there are no objections, the presiding officer declares the result of the vote and, if applicable, states who is elected President and Vice President. The Senators then depart from the House Chamber.
Contingent presidential election by House
Pursuant to the Twelfth Amendment, the House of Representatives is required to go into session "immediately" to vote for President if no candidate for President receives a majority (270 votes) of the 538 possible electoral votes. The Twelfth Amendment ( Amendment XII) to the United States Constitution provides the procedure by which the President and Vice President are The United States House of Representatives is one of the two chambers of the United States Congress; the other is the Senate.
In this event, the House of Representatives is limited to choosing from among the three candidates who received the most electoral votes. Each state delegation has a single vote. To be elected, a candidate must receive an absolute majority of state votes (26) in order for that candidate to become the President-elect. Additionally, delegations from at least two-thirds of all the states must be present for voting to take place. The House continues balloting until a candidate receives an absolute majority of the state votes. This situation would most likely occur only when more than two candidates receive electoral votes, but could happen in an election in which two candidates each receive 269 electoral votes.
The House of Representatives has chosen the President only in 1801 and in 1825. In the United States Presidential election of 1800, sometimes referred to as the “Revolution of 1800” Vice President Thomas Jefferson defeated President John Adams In the United States presidential election of 1824, John Quincy Adams was elected President on February 9 1825 after the election was decided by the House
Contingent vice presidential election by Senate
If no candidate for Vice President receives an absolute majority of electoral votes, then the Senate must go into session to elect a Vice President. The United States Senate is the Upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the Lower house being the House of Representatives The Senate is limited to choosing from only the top two candidates to have received electoral votes (one fewer than the number to which the House is limited). The Senate votes in the normal manner in this case (i. e. , ballots are individually cast by each Senator, and not by State delegations). However, two-thirds of the Senators must be present for voting to take place.
Additionally, the Twelfth Amendment states that a "majority of the whole number" of Senators (currently 51 of 100) is necessary for there to be a selection of one of the two candidates. The Twelfth Amendment ( Amendment XII) to the United States Constitution provides the procedure by which the President and Vice President are This provision essentially prohibits the sitting Vice President from casting a tie-breaking vote in the case of an evenly divided chamber.
The Senate has chosen the Vice President only in 1837. The United States presidential election of 1836 is predominantly remembered for three reasons It was the last election until 1988 to result in the elevation
Deadlocked chambers
If the House of Representatives has not chosen a President-elect in time for the inauguration (noon on January 20), then Section 3 of the Twentieth Amendment specifies that the Vice President-elect becomes Acting President until the House should select a President. Events 250 - Emperor Decius begins a widespread persecution of Christians in Rome. The Twentieth Amendment ( Amendment XX) of the United States Constitution establishes some of the details dealing with the beginning and ending of the terms of If the winner of the vice presidential election is also not known by then, then under the Presidential Succession Act of 1947, the sitting Speaker of the House would become Acting President until either the House should select a President or the Senate should select a Vice President. The Presidential Succession Act of 1947 ( establishes the line of succession to the office of President of the United States in the event that neither a President The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives is the presiding officer&mdashor speaker &mdashof the United States House of Representatives.
Alternative methods of choosing electors
The current system of choosing presidential electors is called the short ballot. In all states, voters choose among slates of candidates for the associated elector; only a few states list the names of the presidential electors on the ballot. In some states, if a voter wishes to write in a candidate for president, the voter also is required to write-in the names of candidates for elector.
Before the advent of the short ballot in the early twentieth century, the most common means of electing the presidential electors was through the general ticket. The general ticket is quite similar to the current system and is often confused with it. In the general ticket, voters cast ballots for individuals running for presidential elector (while in the short ballot, voters cast ballots for an entire slate of electors). In the general ticket, the state canvass would report the number of votes cast for each candidate for elector, a complicated process in states like New York with multiple positions to fill. Both the general ticket and the short ballot are often considered at-large or winner-takes-all voting. The short ballot was adopted by the various states at different times; it was adopted for use by North Carolina and Ohio in 1932 (possibly the first year in which it was used). North Carolina ( is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States Ohio ( is a Midwestern state of the United States. As part of the Great Lakes region, Ohio has long been a cultural and geographical crossroads Alabama was still using the general ticket as late as 1960 and was one of the last states to switch to the short ballot. Alabama (formally the State of Alabama;) is a State located in the southern region of the United States of America.
The question of the extent to which state constitutions may constrain the legislature's choice of a method of choosing electors has been touched on in two U. S. Supreme Court cases. In McPherson v. Blacker, the Court cited Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 which states that a state's electors are selected "in such manner as the legislature thereof may direct" and wrote that these words "operat[e] as a limitation upon the state in respect of any attempt to circumscribe the legislative power. " In Bush v. Palm Beach County Canvassing Board, a Florida Supreme Court decision was vacated (not reversed) based on McPherson. On the other hand, three justices, dissenting in Bush v. Gore, , wrote that "nothing in Article II of the Federal Constitution frees the state legislature from the constraints in the State Constitution that created it. Bush v Gore,, was a United States Supreme Court case decided on December 12, 2000. "[22]
Appointment by state legislature
Another method of choosing electors is selection by the state legislature. It was used by a majority of the states in both 1792 and 1800, and half of the states in 1812. One of the reasons that most United States history textbooks don't start reporting the popular vote until the election of 1824 is because more than a quarter of all the states used legislative choice in all prior elections; there simply was no popular vote in those states. Even in 1824, when Andrew Jackson famously accused John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay of a corrupt bargain because he lost in spite of having pluralities of both the popular and electoral votes, a full quarter of the states (6 of 24) did not hold popular elections for President and Vice President; instead, those six state legislatures choose the electors that year. Andrew Jackson (March 15 1767 June 8 1845 was the seventh President of the United States (1829&ndash1837 John Quincy Adams (July 11 1767 &ndash February 23 1848 was an American diplomat and politician who served as the sixth President of the United States Henry Clay Sr ( April 12, 1777 &ndash June 29, 1852) was a nineteenth-century American statesman and Orator who Three deals cut in connection with the presidency of the United States - two in contested United States presidential elections and a presidential appointment of a vice president - By the following election, only Delaware and South Carolina continued to use legislative choice. Delaware ( is a state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. South Carolina ( is a state in the southern region ( Deep South) of the United States of America. Delaware ended its practice the following election (1832). South Carolina held on to legislative choice until it became the first state to secede in December 1860.
Legislative appointment made three more appearances on the electoral stage: first, in 1864, Nevada, having been made a state only a few days previously, had no choice but to appoint. Nevada ( is a state located in the western region of the United States of America. Then, in 1868, the newly reconstructed state of Florida appointed its electors, having been readmitted too late to hold elections. Florida ( is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the Finally, in 1876, the legislature of the newly admitted state of Colorado used legislative choice due to a lack of time and money to hold an election. The State of Colorado ( or chiefly by nonresidents) is a state located in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States of America. It was also a possibility in the 2000 election. The United States presidential election of 2000 was a contest between Democratic candidate Al Gore, then Vice President, and Republican Had the recounts continued, the Florida legislature was prepared to appoint the Republican slate of electors to avoid missing the federal deadline for choosing electors.
The Constitution gives the power to the state legislatures to decide how electors are chosen, and it is easier and cheaper for a state legislature to simply appoint a slate of electors than to create a legislative framework for holding elections to determine the electors. As noted above, the two situations in which legislative choice has been used since the Civil War have both been because there was not enough time or money to prepare for an election. However, appointment by state legislature has a serious flaw: legislatures can deadlock more easily than the electorate. In fact, this is precisely what happened in 1789, when New York failed to appoint any electors.
Electoral districts
Another method for choosing electors is to divide a state into electoral districts, and the voters of each district choose a single elector, much as states are currently divided into congressional districts for choosing representatives. The electoral districts cannot correspond with congressional districts, though, because there are two more electoral districts than congressional districts. As with congressional districts, moreover, this method is vulnerable to gerrymandering. Gerrymandering is a form of redistribution in which electoral district or Constituency boundaries are manipulated for electoral advantage
States which have used Electoral Vote Districting and the years used:
- Illinois: 1820, 1824.
- Kentucky: 1792, 1796, 1800, 1804, 1808, 1812, 1816, 1820, 1824.
- Maryland: 1796, 1800, 1804, 1808, 1812, 1816, 1820, 1824, 1828, 1832.
- Michigan: 1892.
- Missouri: 1824.
- North Carolina: 1796, 1800, 1804, 1808.
- Tennessee: 1804, 1808, 1812, 1816, 1820, 1824, 1828.
- Virginia: 1789, 1792, 1796.
Congressional District Method
The Congressional District Method (a. k. a. , Maine-Nebraska Method) is an alternative way of distributing Electoral votes within a state. With the Congressional District Method the statewide popular vote winner receives two electoral votes. [23] In the winner take all system the popular vote winner of the statewide vote receives all of that state’s electoral votes. In the Congressional District Method the other Electoral votes are distributed based on the popular vote winner of each of the state’s individual congressional districts, with the statewide popular vote winner receiving only two electoral votes. [24]
The number of electoral votes allocated to each state is equal to the number of representatives the state has in the Congress. [25] The two votes that a candidate receives for winning the statewide popular vote come from the two electoral votes that each state receives from the members in the Senate to which each state is entitled. The other electoral votes that a state has come from the respective number of members of the House of Representatives to which each state is entitled.
Currently only two states, Maine and Nebraska, use the Congressional District Method for distributing their electoral votes. The State of Maine ( is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean Nebraska ( is a state located on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States and Maine has four electoral votes based on its two Representatives and two Senators. In Nebraska there are two Senators and three Representatives giving it five electoral votes. [26]
The Congressional District Method was first used by Massachusetts in the elections of 1804, 1812, and 1820. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States. After seceding from Massachusetts, Maine used this method through the election of 1828. Secession (derived from the Latin term secessio is the act of withdrawing from an organization union or especially a political entity Elections for President and Vice President of the United States are [27] Maine resumed using the Congressional District Method in the election of 1972. The United States presidential election of 1972 was waged on the issues of radicalism and the Vietnam War. Nebraska has used the Congressional District Method since the election of 1992. The United States presidential elections of 1992 featured a battle between incumbent President, Republican George H [28][29]
The Congressional District Method allows for the chance for states to split their electoral vote between multiple candidates. However, even though Maine and Nebraska have been using the method for twenty-six and sixteen years respectively neither has ever split their electoral, probably because of the small number of electoral districts. [30] Therefore, if states with more congressional representatives used this method, more frequent split electoral votes would likely occur.
The Congressional District Method is closer to one man, one vote than the current winner take all system, because an individual's vote has a larger weight to it. " One man one vote " is a slogan used in pointing out a perceived imbalance in a given voting system [31] In addition, the Congressional District Method can be more easily implemented than other alternatives to the winner take all method. Each state only has to pass legislation in order to use the new method, instead of having to pass an constitutional amendment like some other Electoral College reform options. [32] The Congressional District Method has its benefits, but there are also criticisms of it. For instance, candidates might only spend time in certain battleground districts instead of the entire state, and cases of gerrymandering could arise with political parties trying to draw up as many safe districts as they can. Gerrymandering is a form of redistribution in which electoral district or Constituency boundaries are manipulated for electoral advantage [33]
New York, 1828
In 1828, New York used its own variant of the District Method for choosing electors. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous Just as Maine and Nebraska now do, voters in each congressional district would select one elector. However, these electors would then in turn choose the remaining two electors, instead of these electors being directly determined by voters statewide. In this single state contest, it resulted in a 20–16 split between Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams.
Arguments for and against the current system
Arguments against the current system
Unequal weight of voters
Supporters of direct election argue that it would give everyone an equally weighted vote, regardless of what state he or she lives in, and oppose giving disproportionately amplified voting power to voters in states with small populations. Under the current system, the vote of an individual living in a state with three electoral votes is proportionally more influential than the vote of an individual living in a state with a large number of electoral votes.
Essentially, the Electoral College ensures that candidates, particularly in recent elections, pay attention to key 'swing-states' (those states that are not firmly rooted in either the Republican or Democratic party). It equally assures that voters in states that are not believed to be competitive will be disregarded.
Losing the popular vote
In the elections of 1876, 1888, and 2000, the candidate receiving a plurality of the nationwide popular vote did not become President. Please DO NOT flip the colors --> The United States presidential election of 1876 was one of the most disputed and intense presidential elections in American history The United States Presidential Election of 1888 was held on November 6 1888 The United States presidential election of 2000 was a contest between Democratic candidate Al Gore, then Vice President, and Republican [34]
Opponents of the Electoral College counter that it does not require candidates to cultivate greater and broader support throughout the entire nation. The electors could elect a candidate who wins by small margins in only a few of the largest states over another candidate who wins by large margins in all the rest of the states. In fact, given the 2000 allocation of electors, a candidate could have won with only the support of 11 states.
A result of the present functionality of the Electoral College is that the national popular vote bears no legal or factual significance on determining the outcome of the election. As the aggregate popular vote is irrelevant, both voters and candidates may base their campaign strategies around the existence of the Electoral College. Claims that the Electoral College suppresses the popular will are therefore legitimately open to debate. For example, in 2004, it was generally taken for granted that Massachusetts would vote Democratic while Texas would vote Republican. So voters within those states, whose preferred major-party candidate was unlikely to prevail, found themselves free to vote for third party candidates, or not vote at all, since casting their ballots were extremely unlikely to affect the result. Conversely, a voter in Florida was more likely to vote Democratic or Republican, even if they favored a third-party candidate, because their vote was much more likely to make a difference. Consequently, in any close race, candidates campaign to maximize electoral votes, not to maximize national popular vote totals.
The effects of this phenomenon are somewhat known, but impossible to quantitatively predict in any close election such as 2000, when Al Gore received more of the popular vote than George W. Bush. Albert Arnold Gore Jr (born March 31 1948 is an American environmental Activist, author Businessperson, former Politician, and former George Walker Bush ( born July 6 1946 is the forty-third and current President of the United States.
Focus on large swing states
Most states use a winner-take-all system, in which the candidate with the most votes in that state receives all of the state's electoral votes. This gives candidates an incentive to pay the most attention to states without a clear favorite, such as Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Florida. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ( often colloquially referred to as PA (its abbreviation by natives and Northeasterners is a state located in the Northeastern Ohio ( is a Midwestern state of the United States. As part of the Great Lakes region, Ohio has long been a cultural and geographical crossroads Florida ( is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the For example, California, Texas, and New York, in spite of having the largest populations, have in recent elections been considered safe for a particular party (Democratic for California & New York; Republican for Texas), and therefore candidates typically devote relatively few resources, in both time and money, to such states. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. Texas ( is a state geographically located in the South Central United States and is also known as the Lone Star State. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous The Democratic Party is one of two major Political parties in the United States, the other being the Republican Party. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous Texas ( is a state geographically located in the South Central United States and is also known as the Lone Star State.
It is possible to win the election by winning eleven states and disregarding the rest of the country. If one ticket were to take California (55 votes), Texas (34), New York (31), Florida (27) Illinois (21), Pennsylvania (21), Ohio (20), Michigan (17), Georgia (15), New Jersey (15), and North Carolina (15), that ticket would have 271 votes, which would be enough to win. (In fact, if a small number of voters were to vote in those eleven states, the other major ticket could have a landslide victory in the popular vote and still lose the election. In Politics, a landslide victory (or landslide) is the victory of a candidate or Political party by an overwhelming margin in an Election ) Such an extreme outcome has never occurred. In the close elections of 2000 and 2004, these eleven states gave 111 votes to Republican candidate George W. Bush and 160 votes to Democratic candidates Al Gore and John Kerry.
Proponents claim, however, that adoption of the popular vote would simply shift the disproportionate focus to large cities at the expense of rural areas. [35] Candidates might also be inclined to campaign hardest in their base areas to maximize turnout among core supporters, and ignore more closely divided parts of the country. Whether such developments would be good or bad is a matter of normative political theory and political interests of the voters in question.
Discourages turnout and participation
Because it does not matter how many people turn out to vote in a given state, the electoral college eliminates any advantage to a political party or campaign for encouraging voters to turn out (except in the few closely fought swing states). [36] If the presidential election were decided by a national popular vote, in contrast, campaigns and parties would have a strong incentive to work to increase turnout everywhere. [37] Individuals would similarly have a strong incentive to persuade their friends and neighbors to turn out to vote. The differences in turnout between swing states and non-swing states under the current electoral college system suggest that replacing the electoral college with direct election by popular vote would likely increase turnout and participation very significantly. [38]
Allows states to disenfranchise citizens without penalty
If a state makes it harder for its citizens to vote, whether by making voting more difficult or expensive, or by legally disenfranchising some citizens (such as ex-felons) from voting, and turnout in the state is reduced as a result, the electoral college insulates the state from being penalized. Disenfranchisement or disfranchisement is the revocation of the right of Suffrage (the right to vote to a person or group of people or rendering a person's vote Felony disenfranchisement is the term used to describe the practice of prohibiting persons from Voting based on the fact that they have been convicted of a Felony In fact, legal scholars Akhil Amar and Vikram Amar point out that the original compromise of the electoral college was largely due to this very fact. Akhil Reed Amar (born 1958 is Southmayd Professor of Law at Yale Law School, an expert on Constitutional law and Criminal procedure. Vikram David Amar is professor and the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the UC Davis School of Law - King Hall Direct national election of the President (which was proposed by a delegate from Pennsylvania) would have enabled the North to outvote the South, because "the South would get no credit for its half-million slaves, none of whom, of course, would be able to vote. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ( often colloquially referred to as PA (its abbreviation by natives and Northeasterners is a state located in the Northeastern The electoral college system that ultimately emerged gave the South partial -- three-fifths -- credit for its slaves. "[39] The electoral college compromise thus allowed states to disenfranchise large numbers of citizens while maintaining the same influence in the electoral college. Amar and Amar note, "The founders' system also encouraged the continued disenfranchisement of women. In a direct national election system, any state that gave women the vote would automatically have doubled its national clout. Under the electoral college, however, a state had no such incentive to increase the franchise; as with slaves, what mattered was how many women lived in a state, not how many were empowered. "[40] The electoral college continues to this day to insulate states from losing any influence when they disenfranchise or suppress the votes of their citizens -- whether through voter suppression, through making it more difficult or expensive to vote, or through actually taking away some citizens' votes by law. Voter suppression is a form of Electoral fraud and refers to the use of governmental power political campaign strategy and private resources aimed at suppressing (i Disenfranchisement or disfranchisement is the revocation of the right of Suffrage (the right to vote to a person or group of people or rendering a person's vote "Even today, a state with low voter turnout gets precisely the same number of electoral votes as if it had a high turnout. By contrast, a well-designed direct election system could spur states to get out the vote. "[41]
Favors less populous states
As a consequence of giving more per capita voting power to the less populated states, the Electoral College gives disproportionate power to those states' interests as well. Since most states cast all of their Electoral College votes as either Republican or Democrat, Democrats often complain that the Electoral College system favors the Republican party by disproportionately boosting the electoral weight of the less populous states, which have tended historically to vote Republican. Attempts have been made to show otherwise using game theory analysis, and specifically using the Banzhaf Power Index (BPI). The Banzhaf power index, named after John F Banzhaf III (though originally invented by and sometimes calledPenrose-Banzhaf indexis a power index defined by the In this model, individual voters in California (highest electoral vote count) had approximately 3. 3 times more individual power to choose a president as voters of Montana (highest population with the minimum 3 electors) in 1990. [42] However, Banzhaf's analysis has been critiqued as treating votes like coin-flips, and more empirically-based models of voting yield results which seem to favor larger states less. [43]
Disadvantage for third parties
In practice, the winner-take-all manner of allocating a state's electors generally decreases the importance of minor parties. [44]
Arguments for the current system
Requires widespread popular support to win
Proponents of the Electoral College argue that organizing votes by regions forces a candidate to seek popular support over a majority of the country. Since a candidate cannot count on winning the election based solely on a heavy concentration of votes in a few areas, the Electoral College avoids much of the sectionalism that has plagued other geographically large nations, such as China, India, the Soviet Union, and the Roman Empire. Sectionalism is to develop a distinct identity based on ethnicity customs laws language economics or culture China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial
There are some examples of candidates winning elections without broad national support. For example, Lincoln won in 1860 without contesting a single southern state. On the other hand, in the elections of 1876 and 1888 Rutherford B. Hayes and Benjamin Harrison, respectively, both lost the popular vote but won in the Electoral College. In each case, the victorious candidate demonstrated broader national support among voters, losing the popular vote only because his opponent rolled up very large margins in a small number of southern states. However, given that violence and fraud prevented many blacks and white Republicans from voting in Southern states in these elections, each could legitimately claim a broader popular mandate than their respective opponents. [45]
Maintains the federal character of the nation
The United States of America is a federal coalition which consists of component states. Proponents of the current system argue that the collective opinion of even a small state merits attention at the federal level greater than that given to a small, though numerically-equivalent, portion of a very populous state.
For many years early in the nation's history, up until the Jacksonian Era, many states appointed their electors by a vote of the state legislature, and proponents argue that, in the end, the election of the President must still come down to the decisions of each state, or the federal nature of the United States will give way to a single massive, centralized government. Jacksonian Democracy refers to the political philosophy of United States President Andrew Jackson and his supporters In the United States of America, a state legislature is a generic term referring to the legislative body of any of the country's 50 states. [46]
Enhances status of minority groups
Far from decreasing the power of minority groups by depressing voter turnout, proponents argue that, by making the votes of a given state an all-or-nothing affair, minority groups can provide the critical edge that allows a candidate to win. This encourages candidates to court a wide variety of such minorities and special interests. An interest group (also advocacy group, lobby group, pressure group or special interest group) is an organized collection of people who seek [46] This does not apply to states that do not employ an all-or-nothing system, for selecting their electors, such as Maine and Nebraska; it does apply to individual electors.
Encourages stability through the two-party system
Many proponents of the Electoral College see its negative effect on third parties as a good thing. In a Two-party system of politics the term third party is sometimes applied to a party other than the two dominant ones They believe it protects the most powerful office in the country from control by what these proponents view as regional minorities until they can moderate their views to win broad, long-term support from across the entire nation. Critics of this argument disagree with the statement that emerging third parties are a bad thing.
Death or unsuitability of a candidate
While it is common to think of the electoral votes impersonally, as mere numbers, the college is in fact made up of real people (usually party regulars of the party whose candidate wins each state) with the capacity to adapt to unusual situations. That capacity might be particularly important if, for example, a candidate were to die or become in some other way unsuitable to serve as President or Vice President. Advocates of the current system argue that these electors could then choose a suitable replacement (who would most likely come from the same party of the candidate who won the election) more competently than could the general voting public. Furthermore, the time period during which such a death or the onset of such an unsuitability might call for such an adaptation extends, under the Electoral College system, from before Election Day (many states cannot change ballots at a late stage) until the day the electors vote (the first Monday after the second Wednesday of December).
In the election of 1872, Democratic candidate Horace Greeley did in fact die before the meeting of the Electoral College, resulting in Democratic disarray; the electors who were to have voted for Greeley split their votes across several candidates, including three votes cast for the deceased Greeley. Please DO NOT flip the colors --> In the United States presidential election of 1872, incumbent President Ulysses S The Democratic Party is one of two major Political parties in the United States, the other being the Republican Party. Horace Greeley ( February 3, 1811 &ndash November 29, 1872) was an American editor of a leading newspaper, a founder However, President Ulysses S. Grant, the Republican incumbent, had already won an absolute majority of electors. Ulysses S Grant, born Hiram Ulysses Grant (April 27 1822 &ndash July 23 1885 was an American general and the eighteenth President of the United States Because it was the death of a losing candidate, there was no pressure to agree on a replacement candidate. There has never been a case of a candidate of the winning party dying.
In the election of 1912, after the Republicans had renominated President Taft and Vice President Sherman, Sherman died shortly before the election, too late to change the names on the ballot, thus causing Sherman to be listed posthumously. The United States presidential election of 1912 was fought among three major candidates two of whom had previously won election to the office The President of the United States is the Head of state and Head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in United States by William Howard Taft (September 15 1857 – March 8 1930 was an American politician, the twenty-seventh President of the United States, the tenth Chief Justice The Vice President of the United States is the first person in the presidential line of succession, becoming the new President of the United States upon the death James Schoolcraft Sherman (October 24 1855 &ndash October 30 1912 was a United States Representative from New York and the twenty-seventh Vice President That ticket finished third behind the Democrats (Woodrow Wilson) and the Progressives (Theodore Roosevelt), and the 8 electoral votes that Sherman would have received were cast for Nicholas M. Butler. Nicholas Murray Butler ( April 2, 1862 &ndash December 7, 1947) was an American philosopher diplomat and educator
Isolation of election problems
Some supporters of the Electoral College note that it isolates the impact of potential election fraud or other problems to the state where it occurs. The College prevents instances where a party dominant in one state may dishonestly inflate the votes for a candidate and thereby affect the election outcome. Recounts, for instance, occur only on a state-by-state basis, not nationwide. Similarly, the College acts to isolate less malicious election problems to the state in which they occur. [47]
Neutralizes turnout disparities between states
There are factors that affect the turnout around the country. Weather can vary greatly across a large nation, rain or winter storms can impact voter participation in affected states. In addition, when a state has another high profile contest, such as a hotly contested Senate or gubernatorial race, turnout in that state can be affected. Because the allocation of electoral votes is independent of each state's turnout, the Electoral College neutralizes the effect of all such turnout disparities between states.
Maintains separation of powers
The Constitution separated government into three branches that check each other to minimize threats to liberty and encourage deliberation of governmental acts. Under the original framework, only members of the House of Representatives were directly elected by the people, with members of the Senate chosen by state legislatures, the President by the Electoral College, and the judiciary by the President and the Senate. The President was not directly elected in part due to fears that he could assert a national popular mandate that would undermine the legitimacy of the other branches, and potentially result in tyranny.
Current reform proposals
For more than eighteen decades, since the 1825 election of John Quincy Adams by the House of Representatives, and the epithet corrupt bargain decried by the losing Andrew Jackson, the concept of electing a president without a direct connection of the national popular vote, and the reliance upon Electoral College members who may act contrary to expressed voter preferences has been the basis for multiple constitutional amendment proposals, books, articles and pamphlets describing the unfairness of the Electoral College process in relation to one person, one vote and other principles. John Quincy Adams (July 11 1767 &ndash February 23 1848 was an American diplomat and politician who served as the sixth President of the United States Three deals cut in connection with the presidency of the United States - two in contested United States presidential elections and a presidential appointment of a vice president - Andrew Jackson (March 15 1767 June 8 1845 was the seventh President of the United States (1829&ndash1837 " One man one vote " is a slogan used in pointing out a perceived imbalance in a given voting system [48][49][50][51][52]
Interstate compact
This proposal, also known as the Amar Plan, calls for an interstate compact whereby individual states agree to allocate their electors to the winner of the national popular vote. National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is an agreement among U The Amar Plan is a plan to reform the presidential election process in the United States to ensure that the President is chosen by national Popular vote. The agreement is triggered only upon a certain threshold of states enacting electoral reallocation legislation. The state legislatures together would then establish a direct vote and effectively circumvent the Electoral College system if enough electoral votes switch. Direct election is a term describing a system of choosing political officeholders in which the voters directly cast ballots for the person persons or political party that they desire to The National Popular Vote plan recommends that the present manner of allocating electors shall remain in force until enough states have signed on as to account for a majority of electoral votes. National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is an agreement among U
The proposal centers on Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution, which provides, "Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress. The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme Law of the United States. " Many partial versions of this plan have emerged over the years.
While the power of each State to determine how it chooses its electors is clearly plenary, what remains unclear is whether such coordination between the States requires the approval of the Congress, pursuant to the Compact Clause of the Constitution, before this compact can take effect. A plenary power or plenary authority is the complete power of a governing body The United States Congress is the bicameral Legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses The compact clause refers to a provision of the United States Constitution, in Article I, Section 10, Clause 3 that makes states ability to
Maryland is the first state to have passed the legislation. On April 10, 2007, the Governor of the State of Maryland, Martin O'Malley, signed a bill into law providing that, should enough states adopt the same law, the whole of the Maryland's electoral votes would go to the presidential candidate with the greatest number of votes nationally for his or her electors, instead of going to the candidate whose electors receive the most votes within the state. Events 879 - Louis III becomes King of the Western Franks. 1407 - the lama Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. A governor is a governing official usually the executive (at least nominally to different degrees also politically and administratively of a non-sovereign level of government Martin Joseph O'Malley (born January 18 1963) is an American Democratic politician who is currently serving as the 61st [53]
New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine signed legislation on Sunday, January 13, 2008 that approved delivering the state’s 15 electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote in the presidential election. Events 532 - Nika riots in Constantinople. 888 - Odo Count of Paris becomes King of the Franks 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common The compact would take effect only if enough states — those with a majority of votes in the Electoral College — agreed to it. Republicans criticized the bill as undermining federal elections. [54]
A bill (HB 1685) to enact the Compact, that was passed by the Illinois state legislature on January 9, 2008, has been signed by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Events 475 - Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Rod R Blagojevich (bləˈgɔɪəvɪtʃ, born December 10, 1956) is an American Politician from the state of Illinois. [55]
Proportional vote
Under such a system, electors would be selected in proportion to the votes cast for their candidate or party, rather than being selected by the statewide plurality vote. [56]
Congressional District Method
Other observers argue that the current electoral rules of Maine and Nebraska should be extended nationwide. As previously noted, the winner in each of those two states is only guaranteed two of Maine's four and two of Nebraska's five electoral votes, with the winner of each Congressional district in those states receiving one electoral vote. Using the California example again, Gore won 33 of the state's congressional districts and the state overall, while Bush won 19 congressional districts. With the 2 votes for the state's overall result added, the state's electoral votes would then have gone 35–19 for Gore.
However, this kind of allocation would still make it possible for the loser of the popular vote to become president. Dividing electoral votes by House district winners would create yet another incentive for partisan gerrymandering. Gerrymandering is a form of redistribution in which electoral district or Constituency boundaries are manipulated for electoral advantage Direct election proponents oppose the district method also because candidates would focus on the votes of only the competitive districts, making the votes of even fewer Americans matter than when candidates focus on votes in competitive states. [57]
Another perceived problem with this suggestion is that it would actually further increase the advantage of small states. In winner-take-all, the small states' disproportionately high number of electors is partially offset by the fact that large states with their big electoral blocks are such a highly desirable boon to a candidate that large swing states actually receive much more attention during the campaign than smaller states. In the proportional vote or District Method, this advantage of the large states would be gone.
Yet another argument with both the Congressional District Method and the Proportional vote is that even if it is considered superior as a nationwide system, winner-take-all generally maximizes the power of an individual state and thus while it might be in the interest of the nation, it is not in the interest of the state to adopt any other system. Since the United States Constitution gives the states the power to choose their method of appointing the electors, nationwide Congressional District Method without a constitutional amendment mandating it seems unlikely, and the passage of such an amendment seems equally unlikely since the House delegations of the largest states (against whose interests such a system would be), taken together, easily surpass the one third of the House size that is needed to block a constitutional amendment.
Abolishing the non-proportional electors (drop two)
Another proposed reform is to make the number of electors that each state has the same as its number of Representatives (effectively the same as the current system, except taking two electoral votes from each state). This plan, sometimes called "drop two," could still be seen as inherently unfair, as some of the least populous states would be proportionally overrepresented while some of the slightly more populous single-representative states would be significantly underrepresented (for example, Wyoming, the least populous state, has one Representative for 510,000 inhabitants; Montana has one Representative for 935,000 inhabitants; compare this to California, which averages one Representative for each 681,000 Californians).
Proponents of this suggestion say that this will preserve the Electoral College's benefits and make the system more democratic at the same time. Others say this will remove the extra power given to the small states intended to make elections more fair and there would still exist the phenomenon of non-swing states being ignored.
The late historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. had proposed decreasing the number of electors in the Electoral College from 538 to 436, with each state allotted the same number of votes as their number of representatives in the House of Representatives (with one vote for the District of Columbia). Arthur Meier Schlesinger Jr, born Arthur Bancroft Schlesinger ( October 15 1917 &ndash February 28 2007) was a Pulitzer Prize recipient Each state would be required to use a winner-take-all system. Then, 102 votes would automatically be given to the winner of the national popular vote. Schlesinger felt that this would maintain the stability of a two-party system (as a winner-take-all system already does), while virtually guaranteeing that the person who wins the national popular vote would automatically win the presidential election.
The District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act
Legislation currently before the Congress (H.R. 1905 and S. 1257) regarding the District of Columbia vote in the United States House of Representatives would permanently increase the size of the House to 437 members. The District of Columbia has never had full voting representation in Congress. One of the two new seats would go to the federal capital (Washington, D. C. ); the other would go to the State of Utah per the 2000 U. S. Census apportionment.
The additional seat to Utah would increase its House delegation to four, consequently increasing its number of Electoral College votes to six. As Washington, D. C. is already given three Electoral College votes by the Twenty-third Amendment, receiving a House seat would neither increase nor decrease its share of the Electoral College. Amendment XXIII was the twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution which permits the District of Columbia to choose Electors
If the proposed legislation becomes law and survives any challenges to its constitutionality—Washington, D. C. is not a state and thus is not allowed representation in Congress under Article I, Sections 1 and 2 of the U.S. Constitution or under Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment—the total number of Electoral College votes would increase by one to 539. The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme Law of the United States. The Fourteenth Amendment ( Amendment XIV) to the United States Constitution is one of the post- Civil War Reconstruction Amendments, first The majority needed to elect a President would remain 270 electoral votes.
On April 19, 2007 the House of Representatives passed H. Events 1012 - Martyrdom of Alphege in Greenwich London. 1529 - At the Second Diet of Speyer Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. R. 1905 by a vote of 241 in favor, 177 against, 1 present (i. e. abstained). [58] On September 18, 2007 the Senate fell three votes short of passing a motion to invoke Cloture regarding S. Events 96 - Nerva is proclaimed Roman Emperor after Domitian is assassinated In Parliamentary procedure, cloture (ˈkloʊtʃɝ KLO-cher (also called closure, and sometimes a guillotine) is a motion or process aimed at 1257 (60 votes in favor in order to invoke Cloture). [59]
The Bayh-Celler Amendment
The closest the nation has ever come to abolishing the Electoral College occurred during the 91st Congress. The Ninety-first United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government composed of the United States Senate and the [60] The presidential election of 1968 had ended with Richard Nixon receiving 301 electoral votes to Hubert Humphrey's 191. Please DO NOT flip the colors -->The United States presidential election of 1968 was a wrenching national experience and included the assassination of Democratic candidate Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr ( May 27, 1911 &ndash January 13, 1978) was the thirty-eighth Vice President of the United States, serving Yet, Nixon had only received 511,944 more popular votes than Humphrey, equating to less than 1% of the national total. [61]
Representative Emanuel Celler, Chairman of the US House of Representative's Judiciary Committee responded to public concerns over the disparity between the popular vote and electoral vote by introducing House Joint Resolution 681, an Amendment to the United States Constitution which would have abolished the Electoral College and replaced it with a system wherein the pair of candidates who won at least 40% of the national popular vote would win the Presidency and Vice Presidency respectively. Emanuel Celler ( May 6, 1888 – January 15, 1981) was a politician from New York who served in the United States House of Representatives If no pair received 40% of the popular vote, a runoff election would be held in which the choice of President and Vice President would be made from the two pairs of persons who had received the highest number of votes in the first election. The word "pair" was defined as "two persons who shall have consented to the joining of their names as candidates for the offices of President and Vice President. "[62]
On April 29, 1969, the House Judiciary Committee voted favorably, 28-6, to approve the Amendment. Events 1429 - Joan of Arc arrives to relieve the Siege of Orleans. Year 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. [63] Debate on the proposed Amendment before the full House of Representatives ended on September 11, 1969,[64] and was eventually passed with bipartisan support on September 18, 1969, being approved by a vote of 339 to 70. [65]
On September 30, 1969, President Richard Nixon gave his endorsement for adoption of the proposal, encouraging the Senate to pass its version of the Amendment which had been sponsored as Senate Joint Resolution 1, by Senator Birch Bayh. Events 1399 - Henry IV is proclaimed King of England. 1744 - France and Spain defeat the Year 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Birch Evans Bayh II (born January 22, 1928) is a former United States Senator from Indiana (1963 to 1981 [66]
In its October 8, 1969 edition, the New York Times reported that the legislatures of 30 states were "either certain or likely to approve a constitutional amendment embodying the direct election plan if it passes its final Congressional test in the Senate. Events 314 - Roman Emperor Licinius is defeated by his colleague Constantine I at the Battle of Cibalae, and loses Year 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. " Ratification of 38 state legislatures would have been needed for passage. The paper also reported that 6 other states had yet to state a preference, 6 were leaning toward opposition and 8 were solidly opposed. [67]
On August 14, 1970, the Senate Judiciary Committee sent its report advocating passage of the Amendment to the full Senate. Events 1183 - Taira no Munemori and the Taira clan take the young Emperor Antoku and the three sacred treasures Year 1970 ( MCMLXX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Judiciary Committee had approved the proposal by a vote of 11 to 6. The six members who opposed the plan, Democratic Senators James Eastland of Mississippi, John Little McClellan of Arkansas and Sam Ervin of North Carolina along with Republican Senators Roman Hruska of Nebraska, Hiram Fong of Hawaii and Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, all argued that although the present system had potential loopholes, it had worked well throughout the years. James Oliver Eastland ( November 28, 1904 – February 19, 1986) was an American politician from Mississippi who served John Little McClellan ( 25 February 1896 &ndash 28 November 1977) was a Democratic Party Politician from Arkansas Samuel James Ervin Jr ( September 27, 1896 &ndash April 23, 1985) was a Democratic United States Senator from Roman Lee Hruska ( August 16 1904 - April 25 1999) was a Republican U Hiram Leong Fong ( 鄺[[wikt 友|友]] 良; Pinyin: Kuàng Yǒuliáng formally Yau Leong Fong ( October 15, 1906 – James Strom Thurmond ( December 5, 1902 – June 26, 2003) was an American politician who served as governor of South Carolina and Senator Bayh would indicate that supporters of the measure were about a dozen votes shy from the 67 needed for the Amendment to pass the full Senate. He called upon President Nixon to attempt to persuade undecided Republican Senators to support the plan. [68] However, Nixon, while not reneging on his previous endorsement, chose not to make any further personal appeals to back the legislation. [69]
Open debate on the Amendment finally reached the Senate floor on Tuesday, September 8, 1970,[70] but was quickly faced with a filibuster. Events 70 - Roman forces under Titus sack Jerusalem. 1264 - The Statute of Kalisz Year 1970 ( MCMLXX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A filibuster, or "talking out a bill", is a form of obstruction in a Legislature or other decision-making body The lead objectors to the Amendment were mostly Southern Senators and conservatives from small states, both Democrats and Republicans, who argued abolishing the Electoral College would reduce their states' political influence. [71]
On September 17, 1970, a motion for cloture, which would have ended the filibuster, failed to receive the 67 votes, or two-thirds of those Senators voting, necessary to pass. Events 1176 - The Battle of Myriokephalon is fought 1462 - The Battle of Świecino (or Battle of Żarnowiec Year 1970 ( MCMLXX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. In Parliamentary procedure, cloture (ˈkloʊtʃɝ KLO-cher (also called closure, and sometimes a guillotine) is a motion or process aimed at A filibuster, or "talking out a bill", is a form of obstruction in a Legislature or other decision-making body [72] The vote was 54 to 36 in favor of the motion. [73] A second motion for cloture was held on September 29, 1970, this time failing 53 to 34, or five votes short of the required two-thirds. In Parliamentary procedure, cloture (ˈkloʊtʃɝ KLO-cher (also called closure, and sometimes a guillotine) is a motion or process aimed at Events 522 BC - Darius I of Persia kills the Magian usurper Gaumâta securing his hold as king of the Persian Empire. Year 1970 ( MCMLXX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Thereafter, the Senate Majority Leader, Mike Mansfield of Montana, moved to lay the Amendment aside so that the Senate could attend to other business. Michael Joseph Mansfield (March 16 1903 – October 5 2001 was an American Democratic politician and the longest-serving Majority Leader of the United States [74] However, the Amendment was never considered again and died when the 91st Congress officially ended on January 3, 1971. Events 1431 - Joan of Arc is handed over to the Bishop Pierre Cauchon. Year 1971 ( MCMLXXI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1971 Gregorian calendar.
See also
- Electoral vote changes between presidential elections
- Every Vote Counts Amendment
- List of U.S. states by population
- Electoral college
- National Popular Vote Interstate Compact
- Constitution of the Roman Republic
Notes
- ^ Legally, electors are typically required in some states to vote for the candidates to whom the Elector has pledged himself. The Every Vote Counts Amendment is a Joint resolution to amend the United States Constitution, providing for the popular election of the president and vice president This is a list of states of the United States by population (with inhabited non-state jurisdictions included for comparison as of July 1, 2007, according to the An electoral college is a set of many electors who are empowered to elect a candidate to a particular Office. National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is an agreement among U The Constitution of the Roman Republic or Mos maiorum (Latin for "customs of the ancestors" was an unwritten set of guidelines and principles See The Green Papers In practice Electors rarely break these pledges.
- ^ This process has been normalized to the point that the names of the Electors only appear on the ballot in a handful of states. See The Green Papers
- ^ The number of Electors is equal to the total membership of the United States Congress (composed of 435 Representatives and 100 Senators) plus three Electors from the District of Columbia. See Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 of the Constitution and the Twenty third Amendment. Article Two' of the United States Constitution creates the Executive branch of the government, comprising the President and other executive Amendment XXIII was the twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution which permits the District of Columbia to choose Electors
- ^ Currently Wyoming, which has three electors. The Twenty third Amendment also stipulates the District cannot have more electoral votes than the smallest state, making it highly unlikely the District will ever have more than three votes. Amendment XXIII was the twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution which permits the District of Columbia to choose Electors
- ^ The House must choose from the three Presidential candidates with the most electoral votes. When the House selects the President, the delegation from each state casts only a single vote (meaning that California's 53 representatives collectively have as much clout in the decision as Wyoming's lone Congressman). A candidate must win the votes of a majority of state delegations in order to be named President (see the Twelfth Amendment. The Twelfth Amendment ( Amendment XII) to the United States Constitution provides the procedure by which the President and Vice President are
- ^ The Senate must choose from the two candidates with the most electoral votes. Votes are taken in the normal manner. The new Vice President serves as Acting President should the House fail to choose a President by Inauguration Day (see Section 3 of the Twentieth Amendment). Inauguration Day is the day every four years on which the President of the United States is sworn in and takes office. The Twentieth Amendment ( Amendment XX) of the United States Constitution establishes some of the details dealing with the beginning and ending of the terms of
- ^ In 1824, 1876, 1888 and 2000. In the United States presidential election of 1824, John Quincy Adams was elected President on February 9 1825 after the election was decided by the House Please DO NOT flip the colors --> The United States presidential election of 1876 was one of the most disputed and intense presidential elections in American history The United States Presidential Election of 1888 was held on November 6 1888 The United States presidential election of 2000 was a contest between Democratic candidate Al Gore, then Vice President, and Republican
- ^ Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787: May 29
- ^ Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787: June 2
- ^ Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787: September 4
- ^ Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787: September 6
- ^ The Federalist #39
- ^ Federal Register
- ^ Prior to the adoption of the Seventeenth Amendment, this only meant the House of Representatives. The Seventeenth Amendment ( Amendment XVII) of the United States Constitution was passed by the Senate on June 12 1911 and by the House on May 13 1912
- ^ The present allotment of electors by state is shown in the article List of U.S. states by population. This is a list of states of the United States by population (with inhabited non-state jurisdictions included for comparison as of July 1, 2007, according to the
- ^ The number of electors allocated to each state is based on Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution. Article Two' of the United States Constitution creates the Executive branch of the government, comprising the President and other executive
- ^ 2006 Census estimates
- ^ Sabrina Eaton. "Brown learns he can't serve as Kerry elector, steps down", Cleveland Plain Dealer (reprint at Edison Research), October 29, 2004. Retrieved on 2008-01-03. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1431 - Joan of Arc is handed over to the Bishop Pierre Cauchon.
- ^ Michigan Election Law Section 168.47
- ^ "The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted. "
- ^ 3 U.S. Code, Chapter 1
- ^ Bush v. Gore, (Justice Stevens dissenting) (quote in second paragraph)
- ^ The Electoral College - Maine and Nebraska
- ^ http://www.fandm.edu/x6441.xml
- ^ The Electoral College: How It Works in Contemporary Presidential Elections
- ^ President Elect - Articles - Upgrading The College
- ^ United States Electoral College
- ^ Methods of Choosing Presidential Electors
- ^ "Nebraska's Vote Change. " (April 7, 1991) The Washington Post
- ^ http://www.fandm.edu/x6441.xml
- ^ http://www.dos.state.pa.us/election_reform/lib/election_reform/Electoral_College_Reform.pdf
- ^ http://www.dos.state.pa.us/election_reform/lib/election_reform/Electoral_College_Reform.pdf
- ^ The Electoral College - Reform Options
- ^ In 1824, there were six states in which electors were legislatively appointed rather than being popularly elected, so the true popular vote is uncertain. In the United States presidential election of 1824, John Quincy Adams was elected President on February 9 1825 after the election was decided by the House With no candidate having received a majority of electoral votes in 1824, the election was decided by the House of Representatives, and is thus distinct from the latter three elections in which a single candidate won by an Electoral College majority. The United States House of Representatives is one of the two chambers of the United States Congress; the other is the Senate.
- ^ Hands Off the Electoral College by Rep. Ron Paul, MD, December 28, 2004
- ^ Nivola, Pietro (January 2005), Thinking About Political Polarization, <http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2005/01politics_nivola.aspx>
- ^ Koza et al. , John (2006), Every Vote Equal: A State-Based Plan for Electing the President by National Popular Vote, p. xvii, <http://www.every-vote-equal.com/files/Every-Vote-Equal.pdf>
- ^ Nivola, Pietro (January 2005), Thinking About Political Polarization, <http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2005/01politics_nivola.aspx>
- ^ Amar, Akhil & Amar, Vikram (September 9, 2004), “The Electoral College Votes Against Equality”, Los Angeles Times, <http://www.law.yale.edu/news/2091.htm>
- ^ Amar, Akhil & Amar, Vikram (September 9, 2004), “The Electoral College Votes Against Equality”, Los Angeles Times, <http://www.law.yale.edu/news/2091.htm>
- ^ Amar, Akhil & Amar, Vikram (September 9, 2004), “The Electoral College Votes Against Equality”, Los Angeles Times, <http://www.law.yale.edu/news/2091.htm>
- ^ Mark Livingston, Department of Computer Science. Banzhaf Power Index. University of North Carolina.
- ^ Gelman, Andrew & Katz, Jonathan (2002), “The Mathematics and Statistics of Voting Power”, Statistical Science 17 (4): 420-435, <http://www.stat.columbia.edu/~gelman/research/published/STS027.pdf>
- ^ Third Parties? by Jerry Fresia, February 28, 2006
- ^ Amazon.com: Enlightened Democracy: The Case for the Electoral College: Tara Ross: Books
- ^ a b Kimberling, William C. (May 1992). The Electoral College. Federal Election Commission. The Federal Election Commission (or FEC) is an independent regulatory agency that was founded in 1975 by the United States Congress to regulate the Retrieved on 2008-01-03. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1431 - Joan of Arc is handed over to the Bishop Pierre Cauchon.
- ^ http://www.psych.cornell.edu/Darlington/electorl.htm
- ^ Michner, James A. Presidential Lottery: The Reckless Gamble in Our Electoral System (1969)
- ^ "The Electoral College and Conflict in American History and Politics" (September, 2002). Sociological Practice: A Journal of Clinical and Applied Sociology 4 (3).
- ^ Andrew Jackson's First Annual Message to Congress. The American Presidency Project (December 8, 1829). Retrieved on 2008-05-01. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 305 - Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman Emperor.
- ^ Andrew Jackson's Second Annual Message to Congress. The American Presidency Project (December 6, 1830). Retrieved on 2008-05-01. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 305 - Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman Emperor.
- ^ Andrew Jackson's Third Annual Message to Congress. The American Presidency Project (December 6, 1831). Retrieved on 2008-05-01. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 305 - Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman Emperor.
- ^ Dropping out of the electoral college, CNN. COM, April 10, 2007
- ^ "Trenton: State Backs Electoral College Change", New York Times, January 14, 2008, Page B5
- ^ About Governor Blagojevich's signing of HB 1685.
- ^ FairVote
- ^ Monideepa Talukdar, Robert Richie, and Ryan O'Donnell (August 9th 2007). Fuzzy Math: Wrong Way Reforms for Allocating Electoral College Votes. FairVote. FairVote is a Non-profit organization based in Takoma Park Maryland, whose mission is to achieve universal access to participation a full spectrum of meaningful Retrieved on 2008-01-03. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1431 - Joan of Arc is handed over to the Bishop Pierre Cauchon.
- ^ Breakdown of House vote on H.R. 1905
- ^ Breakdown of Senate vote on Cloture motion
- ^ For a more detailed account of this proposal read The Politics of Electoral College Reform by Lawrence D. Longley and Alan G. Braun (1972)
- ^ 1968 Electoral College Results, National Archives and Records Administration
- ^ "Text of Proposed Amendment on Voting", The New York Times, April 30, 1969, page 21
- ^ "House Unit Votes To Drop Electors" The New York Times, April 30, 1969, page 1
- ^ "Direct Election of President Is Gaining in the House", The New York Times, September 12, 1969, page 12
- ^ "House Approves Direct Election of The President," The New York Times, September 19, 1969, page 1
- ^ "Nixon Comes Out For Direct Vote On Presidency," The New York Times, October 1, 1969, page 1
- ^ "A Survey Finds 30 Legislatures Favor Direct Vote For President," The New York Times, October 8, 1969, page 1
- ^ "Bayh Calls for Nixon's Support As Senate Gets Electoral Plan", The New York Times, August 15, 1970, page 11
- ^ "Senate Refuses To Halt Debate On Direct Voting," The New York Times, September 18, 1970, page 1
- ^ "Senate Debating Direct Election", The New York Times, September 9, 1970, page 10
- ^ "Senate Refuses To Halt Debate On Direct Voting," The New York Times, September 18, 1970, page 1
- ^ The Senate reduced the required vote from two-thirds to three-fifths (i. e. , 60 vote). See United States Senate website.
- ^ "Senate Refuses to Halt Debate On Direct Voting," The New York Times, September 18, 1970, page 1
- ^ "Senate Puts Off Direct Vote Plan," The New York Times, September 30, 1970, page 1
References
- http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/28109.pdf
- Office of the Federal Register
- H.R. 1905 (The District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act, as passed by the House)
- S. 1257 (The District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act, as it stands in the Senate)
External links
- U.S. Electoral College FAQ (www.archives.gov)
- Historical Documents on the Electoral College
- 270towin.com
- PredictNovember.com
- "Math Against Tyranny"
- H.J.RES.4 (proposed constitutional amendment to replace Electoral College with direct popular election of President and Vice President)
- The Green Papers: More detailed description of reform proposals
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