Jonah Patel
The Electoral College has been a part of the U.S. Constitution since its inception at the 1787 Constitutional Convention. It was established as a compromise between electing the President by a vote in Congress and a popular vote of qualified citizens. The Founding Fathers debated for months, and the Electoral College was chosen as a mechanism to ensure that presidential candidates had broad appeal across the country. The process has been criticised as archaic and ambiguous, with over 700 proposals introduced in Congress to reform or eliminate it. Despite this, it remains a part of the Constitution, requiring a two-thirds supermajority in Congress and ratification by three-fourths of the states to be amended.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Founding Fathers' intentions | To create 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. |
| Number of Electors | 538 electors. |
| Majority required to elect the President | 270 votes. |
| States' selection of electors | States select 535 of the electors, matching the total number of their Congressional delegations. |
| Additional electors | Three electors come from the 23rd Amendment, providing that Washington D.C. is treated like a state for Electoral College purposes. |
| Historical context | Created at the Constitutional Convention in 1787, the Electoral College was influenced by the "three-fifths compromise," which counted enslaved Black individuals towards representation and voting power in Southern states. |
| Public opinion | Surveys of political scientists support the continuation of the Electoral College, while public opinion polls have shown majorities favoring its abolition, with the highest at 81% in 1968. |
| Proposed amendments | Over 700 proposals have been introduced in Congress to reform or eliminate the Electoral College, with more proposals than any other subject in the Constitution. |
| Role of Congress | Congress meets in a joint session on January 6 to count the electoral votes and declare the President-elect, who is then sworn in on January 20. |
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What You'll Learn
The Founding Fathers established the Electoral College
The Founding Fathers debated for months, with some arguing that Congress should pick the president and others insisting on a democratic popular vote. The Electoral College was officially selected as the means of electing the president towards the end of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, due to pressure from slave states wanting to increase their voting power, as they could count slaves as 3/5 of a person when allocating electors, and from small states that wanted more power given the minimum of three electors per state.
The Electoral College has been a matter of ongoing debate in the United States since its inception, becoming more controversial in the latter years of the 19th century, up to the present day. There have been more proposals for Constitutional amendments on changing the Electoral College than on any other subject. The American Bar Association has criticized the Electoral College as “archaic” and “ambiguous,” and its polling showed 69 percent of lawyers favored abolishing it in 1987. Surveys of political scientists have supported the continuation of the Electoral College.
Since 1964, there have been 538 electors in the Electoral College. A majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the President. Each state has 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 purposes of the Electoral College under the 23rd Amendment of the Constitution.
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Amendments to change the Electoral College
The Twelfth Amendment, ratified in 1804, changed the process of the Electoral College to the one used today. The Twelfth Amendment was proposed by Congress on December 9, 1803, and was ratified by three-quarters of state legislatures on June 15, 1804. The new rules took effect for the 1804 presidential election and have governed all subsequent presidential elections.
The Twelfth Amendment changed the process for contingent elections in Congress held in the event of a tie vote. Under the original rule, the House would choose the president and vice president among the top five vote-getters. The Twelfth Amendment changed it so that the House selected the president from among the top three vote-getters. The Senate will break a tie vote for the vice presidency between the top two vote-getters. The Twelfth Amendment also stipulates that each elector must cast distinct votes for president and vice president, instead of two votes for president.
The 20th Amendment, ratified in 1935, also changed the Electoral College system by moving the date that Congress convened from March 4 to January 3. This meant that the membership of the newly elected House, rather than the previous House, would elect the President if no candidate received an electoral majority.
In addition to these amendments, there have been several attempts to modify or abolish the Electoral College. Bills have been introduced in Congress on several occasions to amend the Constitution to abolish or reduce the power of the Electoral College and provide for the direct popular election of the president and vice president. The closest the US has come to abolishing the Electoral College was during the 91st Congress (1969-1971). However, the proposal died when the 91st Congress ended on January 3, 1971.
On November 15, 2016, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-California) introduced a proposal to abolish the Electoral College. This proposal included three implementations. The first would allow states to make little to no waiting periods to vote if one changed residence in the state. The second would allow Congress to input age requirements for elections and establish uniform residence, which could supersede the 26th Amendment and make the age requirement higher or lower. The third would give more power to Congress over the election process, allowing them to make decisions in the event of a tie or the death of a candidate.
Other proposals to amend the Electoral College include the Every Vote Counts Amendment, which sought to provide for the popular election of the president and vice president under a new electoral system, and a proposal by US Representative Gene Green (D-Texas) on January 4, 2005, to abolish the Electoral College and have every presidential election determined by a plurality of the national vote.
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The role of the House of Representatives
The Founding Fathers established the Electoral College 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 Electoral College is a process consisting 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 House of Representatives is one of Congress's two chambers, the other being the U.S. Senate, and is part of the federal government's legislative branch. The House of Representatives plays a crucial role in the American system of government, serving as the chamber that most directly reflects the will of the people. With its 435 members elected every two years, the House provides citizens with frequent opportunities to influence the legislative process. The House's structure, functions, and role in American democracy highlight its connection to civic engagement and empower citizens to influence the legislative process, informing and inspiring active participation in the democratic process.
The House of Representatives was designed to be the legislative body closest to the American people, reflecting constituents' immediate concerns and desires. With its members up for election every two years and representing smaller districts, the House is intended to be more responsive to the rapidly changing will of the public. The House holds several crucial responsibilities within the U.S. government, with its primary function being to legislate and work in tandem with the Senate to create and pass bills. The House has the exclusive power to initiate revenue bills, significantly influencing fiscal policy, and it also plays a vital role in the system of checks and balances, with the authority to initiate impeachment proceedings of federal officials, including the president.
The House of Representatives also plays a crucial role in the federal budget process, particularly in initiating and shaping appropriations bills. The process typically begins with the House Budget Committee, which crafts a budget resolution setting overall spending levels and revenue targets for the upcoming fiscal year. Once adopted, this resolution establishes the framework for considering spending bills. The House Appropriations Committee then holds hearings to examine budget requests and the needs of federal programs, producing appropriations bills to fund various aspects of the federal government while adhering to the spending limits set in the budget resolution.
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The three-fifths compromise
The Founding Fathers established the Electoral College in the Constitution 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. The Electoral College is a process consisting 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.
However, the issue of slavery remained a point of contention. Delegates from the Northern states sought to make representation dependent on the size of a state's free population, while Southern delegates threatened to abandon the convention if enslaved individuals were not counted. Eventually, the framers agreed on a compromise that called for representation in the House of Representatives to be apportioned based on a state's free population plus three-fifths of its enslaved population. This agreement became known as the Three-Fifths Compromise.
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The merits of the Electoral College system
The Electoral College has been a part of the US Constitution since the Constitutional Convention in 1787. It was established as a compromise between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and election by a popular vote of qualified citizens. The merits of the Electoral College system have been a matter of debate since its inception, with more proposals to amend or abolish it than any other part of the Constitution.
One argument in favour of the Electoral College is that it requires presidential candidates to have broad appeal across the country to win. This is because the Electoral College ensures that the winner garners electoral votes from multiple states, which can only be achieved by having a national agenda and campaigning throughout the entire country. Proponents argue that without the Electoral College, less populous states and regions would be ignored by candidates, who would instead focus on winning over heavily populated urban areas.
Another benefit of the Electoral College is that it allows for deliberation and independent judgment by electors, who are meant to be the most knowledgeable and informed individuals from each state. The idea is that these electors can serve as a check on the uninformed mass electorate, deliberating reasonably and without "tumult and disorder" to choose a candidate who will not put Constitutional values and practices at risk.
The Electoral College also reflects the nature of the United States as a collection of states with diverse needs and interests. Supporters argue that it balances these differing needs and prevents any one state from having too much influence over the election outcome. The Electoral College gives each state a number of electors equal to its representation in Congress, ensuring that each state has a say in the election proportional to its population.
In addition, the Electoral College provides a safeguard against the risks of direct democracy, which were of concern to the Founding Fathers. They believed that an illiterate or uninformed electorate could be easily manipulated and might make irrational decisions. The Electoral College was designed to mitigate these risks and help ensure that the President is selected based on merit, rather than solely on popular appeal.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes, the Founding Fathers established the Electoral College in the Constitution.
The Electoral College was established 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 consists of 538 electors. Each state elects a number of representatives to the Electoral College that is equal to its number of Senators (two from each state) plus its number of delegates in the House of Representatives. A majority of 270 electoral votes are required to elect the President.
Yes, there have been over 700 proposals in Congress to reform or eliminate the Electoral College. An amendment to abolish the system was approved by the House in 1969 but failed to move past the Senate.
