Isabella Carter
The Electoral College is a process established by the Founding Fathers in the US Constitution as a compromise between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and the election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens. The College consists of 538 electors, with each state having the same number of electors as it does Members in its Congressional delegation. The College has been the subject of much debate, with critics arguing that it consigns most states to spectator status in presidential elections, while supporters credit it with preserving an important dimension of state-based federalism. The Constitution outlines provisions for the College, including the process for choosing the President and Vice President, the appointment of electors, and the manner in which they cast their votes.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Process | The Electoral College is a process, not a place. |
| Established by | The Founding Fathers established it in the Constitution. |
| Purpose | To act as a compromise between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens. |
| Composition | 538 electors from the states and the District of Columbia. |
| Frequency | Every fourth year. |
| Date | Tuesday after the first Monday in November. |
| Voters | Voters in each state choose electors to serve in the Electoral College. |
| Appointments | The State Executive of each state signs the Certificate of Ascertainment to appoint the electors chosen in the general election. |
| Voting | Electors in each state meet to select the President and Vice President of the United States. |
| Counting | Congress meets in joint session to count the electoral votes. |
| Inauguration | The President-Elect is sworn in as President of the United States. |
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What You'll Learn
Electors are appointed by and act under the US Constitution
The Founding Fathers established the Electoral College in the US Constitution as a compromise between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and the election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens. The Electoral College is a process, not a place, and it consists of the selection of electors, the meeting of the electors where they vote for President and Vice President, and the counting of the electoral votes by Congress.
The US Constitution gives the states the power to appoint electors. Each state appoints a number of electors equal to the number of Senators and Representatives it has in Congress. The District of Columbia is treated like a state for the purposes of the Electoral College and also appoints electors. The electors are not officers or agents of the United States and are free to vote as they choose. However, they are expected to support the party nominees, and in many states, a vote for a presidential candidate is counted as a vote for their party's nominees for the Electoral College.
The Electoral College has been a source of recurring political controversy and has undergone significant constitutional, legislative, and political upheaval and revision. Critics argue that it consigns most states to "spectator" status in presidential elections, reduces voter turnout, and dramatically polarizes the nation's politics. There have been proposals for constitutional amendments to replace the Electoral College with a direct popular election, but they have not gained much traction.
The process of selecting the President and Vice President through the Electoral College is outlined in Article II, Section 1, Clause 3 of the US Constitution. This provision was superseded by the Twelfth Amendment, ratified in 1804. The Electoral College process begins with the selection of electors by the voters in each state. The electors then meet and vote for the President and Vice President, and finally, Congress counts the electoral votes.
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The Electoral College is a process, not a place
The Electoral College consists of 538 electors, with each state having the same number of electors as it does Members in its Congressional delegation: one for each Member in the House of Representatives plus two Senators. The District of Columbia is allocated three electors and is treated like a state for the purposes of the Electoral College under the 23rd Amendment of the Constitution.
The process of the Electoral College begins with the voters in each state choosing electors to serve in the Electoral College. The State Executive of each state then signs the Certificate of Ascertainment to appoint the electors chosen in the general election. The electors meet and vote to select the President and Vice President of the United States. Finally, Congress meets in a joint session to count the electoral votes and declare a winner.
The Electoral College process for choosing the President has been controversial and has undergone significant constitutional, legislative, and political upheaval and revision. One notable controversy occurred in the election of 1800 when Thomas Jefferson and his running mate, Aaron Burr, tied in the Electoral College. This constitutional glitch threw the process into the House of Representatives under "contingent election" procedures.
Critics of the Electoral College argue that it consigns most states to "spectator" status in presidential elections, reduces voter turnout, and dramatically polarizes the nation's politics. Proposed constitutional amendments for a direct popular election have made little headway. Supporters of the Electoral College, however, credit it with preserving an important dimension of state-based federalism and guaranteeing that Presidents will have nationwide support.
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Electors are not officers or agents of the United States
The United States Constitution contains very few provisions relating to the qualifications of electors. The Constitution and Federal law state that state legislatures have broad powers to direct the process for selecting electors, as long as that process is in place before Election Day. The only exception to this is the qualifications of electors.
Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 of the Constitution provides that "no Senator, Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States" may be appointed as an elector. This is further supported by the 14th Amendment, which states that state officials who have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States or given aid and comfort to its enemies are disqualified from serving as electors.
The electors are not officers or agents of the United States. They are appointed and act under and pursuant to the Constitution of the United States. However, they are not considered officers or agents of the United States any more than members of state legislatures are when acting as electors of federal senators. The electors are meant to be an independent body, chosen by the people from among themselves, based on their superior discernment, virtue, and information. This independent body is meant to make the election according to their own will, without control from the body of the people.
The process of selecting electors varies from state to state. Each state's political parties choose slates of potential electors before the general election. These individuals are often state elected officials, state party leaders, or people with a personal or political affiliation with their party's presidential candidate. After the general election, the Executive of each state prepares Certificates of Ascertainment listing the appointed electors. These certificates are then sent to Congress to be opened and counted.
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The Twelfth Amendment superseded Article II, Section 1, Clause 3
The Twelfth Amendment (Amendment XII) to the United States Constitution superseded Article II, Section 1, Clause 3, which outlined the original procedure for the Electoral College. The Electoral College is a "so-called 'Electoral College' system" that is used to elect the President of the United States.
Under the original procedure provided in Article II, each member of the Electoral College cast two electoral votes, with no distinction between votes for president and vice president. The presidential candidate receiving the most votes, provided that it was a majority of the electors, was elected president, and the runner-up became vice president. This two-vote feature led to a serious political crisis in the 1800 election, when Thomas Jefferson and his running mate, Aaron Burr, tied in the Electoral College, throwing the process into the House of Representatives.
The Twelfth Amendment was proposed by Congress in 1803 and ratified in 1804, with the new rules taking effect for the 1804 presidential election and governing all subsequent elections. The amendment provided a new procedure for electing the president and vice president, replacing the original process outlined in Article II. It did not, however, prohibit electors from announcing their choice beforehand or pledging themselves to a particular candidate.
In addition, the Twelfth Amendment addressed the issue of a potential deadlock in the election of a president. It stated that if the House did not choose a president before March 4, the start of a presidential term, the individual elected vice president would "act as President" until a decision was made. This provision was later superseded by the Twentieth Amendment, which changed the date of a new presidential term to January 20 and clarified the role of the vice president-elect in the event of a deadlock.
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The Electoral College has been criticised for reducing voter turnout
The United States Constitution refers to "Electors" and "electors", but not the "Electoral College". The Electoral College is a "winner-take-all" system that critics argue reduces voter turnout.
Firstly, the Electoral College has been criticised for reducing voter turnout as it drags down voter turnout in most states, reducing the field of play to a small number of "swing states". This means that candidates only need to campaign in a handful of states to win, leaving voters in non-swing states feeling politically irrelevant and less likely to participate in the political process.
Secondly, the system has been criticised for not incentivising states to encourage more citizens to vote. This is because each state's electoral count remains fixed regardless of voter turnout. Therefore, states are not motivated to include more citizens in elections, as their political clout nationally would remain unchanged.
Thirdly, the Electoral College has been criticised for encouraging the continued disenfranchisement of certain groups, such as women and people of colour. Under a direct national election system, any state that gave these groups the vote would automatically have increased its national clout. However, under the Electoral College, a state had no incentive to increase the franchise, as what mattered was the number of people in a state, not how many were empowered to vote.
Finally, the Electoral College has been criticised for being undemocratic and reducing the fairness of elections. Since the Electoral College influences platforms, campaign strategy, and turnout, it can affect the legitimacy of the president-elect. For example, there is a possibility that a candidate could win the Electoral College without winning the popular vote, as seen in the 2024 election with Trump and Harris.
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Frequently asked questions
The Electoral College is a process established by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution as a compromise between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and the election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens. The process consists of the selection of the electors, the meeting of the electors where they vote for President and Vice President, and the counting of the electoral votes by Congress.
The Electoral College consists of 538 electors, with each state having the same number of electors as it does Members in its Congressional delegation: one for each Member in the House of Representatives plus two Senators. The voters in each state choose electors to serve in the Electoral College, and the electors then meet to select the President and Vice President of the United States. The electors cast ballots for two candidates, with the first-place finisher becoming President and the second-place finisher becoming Vice President.
Critics argue that the Electoral College consigns most states to "spectator" status in presidential elections, reduces voter turnout, and dramatically polarizes the nation's politics. They also argue that it drags down voter turnout in these states and reduces the real field of play to fewer than a dozen "swing states."
