Electoral College

 

Origins The Electoral College system was established in  in  Article II of the Constitution  and amended by the  Constitution the 12th Amendment  Amendment in 1804. Should none of the candidates win 270 2 70 electoral votes, the 12th Amendment kicks in and the election is decided by the House of  Representatives. The combined representatives of each state get one vote and a simple majority of states s tates is required to win. This has only happened twice. Presidents Thomas Jefferson in 1801 and John Quincy Adams in 1825 were w ere elected by the House of Representatives.  Representatives.  1)  Congress should elect president: shot down … too divisive 2)  Have state legislatures elect the president: shot down … could undermine federalism 3)  Popular vote: shot down … favoritism Members of congress and federal employees could not originally be electors in the US. Maine and Nebraska: 4 and 5 votes respectively, 2 and 3 c-districts respectively… each district is up for grabs, and the remaining votes are determined based on the popular vote within the state

538 votes in the Electoral College = 538 votes (senate and congress) each state gets 3 votes to start (to assure proportionality geographically) geographically) 48/50 states give all electors to the majority winner Florida: 29 … majority takes all.  



     



The elector is nominated by his or her state party committee (perhaps to reward many years of  service to the party). The elector campaigns for a spot and the decision is made during a vote held at the state's party

a member of Congress a high-ranking U.S. official in a position of "trust or profit," which refers to a member of Congress accepting an appointment to executive office   someone who has "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" against the U.S. [source:  U.S. National Archives and Records [source: Records]] 

 



   

 

convention.

In response to faithless electors' actions, at least two dozen states have created laws to enforce an elector's pledge to his or her party vote or the popular vote. Some states even assess a misdemeanor charge and a fine. For example, state ofof North Carolina fines faithless electors However,the a number scholars believe such state-level laws$10,000. would not 

 

survive constitutional challenge; of the 158 faithless electors, none have ever been punished  11 million Americans not living in the states DoC… didn’t vote until 1964 when the Con was amended but now has the base of 3

The territories do not vote, although they are apart of the system (4.5 million people) 6.3 million americans abroad can send a postal vote to the last state that you reside in… but if you go to the territories, you lose y our vote. You can even vote from space. The electors are free to vote the way they want… this is called “faithless electors”  

The actually election takes place in December and they cast their real votes

Problems with the College Everyone’s vote should count equally, but smaller states are disproportionately represented… 

1876, 1888, 2000 popular vote < electoral college vote

Who decides in an impasse? When there's an impasse in the Electoral College, the decision goes to the House of Representatives which has happened twice. In 1801, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, both Democrat-Republicans, received the same number of electoral votes, even though Burr was running as a  a   vice presidential  presidential candidate. After 36 successive votes in the House, Jefferson was finally fi nally elected president. In I n 1825, Andrew Jackson received the popular vote over John Quincy Adams, but neither man received the electoral vote majority to claim the  presidency. Adams won the House vote on the first ballot

  Votes cast by the people of the United States -- known as

•

the "popular vote" -- are used to choose the president and vice president "indirectly" through the Electoral College. College .   Popular votes cast in the presidential election are actually being cast for a number of electors. Each state gets a number of electors equal to the state's number of representatives in the House and Senate.   There are a total of 538 electors.   The candidate winning the most popular votes in a state

•

• •

 

gets all of that states electoral votes. votes . The first candidate to win 270 or more electoral votes is elected.