Omar Bennett
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 election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens. The College is made up of 538 electors, who meet in their respective states to cast their votes for President and Vice President. The Founding Fathers debated for months, and the Electoral College was a workaround for the persistence of slavery in the United States. The College has been criticised as archaic and ambiguous, and public opinion polls have shown Americans favoured abolishing it by a majority of 75% in 1981.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Purpose | To select the president and vice president of the United States |
| Established by | The Founding Fathers |
| Year | 1787 |
| Reason | 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 |
| Number of Electors | 538 |
| Majority required to elect the President | 270 |
| Electors chosen by | State legislatures initially, but now by popular vote in all 50 states |
| Elector voting | Electors exercise independent judgment when voting, but in most states, they are bound to vote for their party's candidate |
| Faithless Electors | Allowed, but rare and may face fines, disqualification, or prosecution |
| Reform Proposals | Over 700 proposals introduced in Congress to reform or eliminate the Electoral College |
Explore related products
$14.77 $21.95
What You'll Learn
The Electoral College was a compromise
The Electoral College is a process, not a physical location. It was established by the Founding Fathers 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 College consists of 538 electors, who meet in their respective states and cast their votes for President and Vice President. The votes are then sent to Congress, where they are counted.
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 their compromise. The term "electoral college" does not appear in the Constitution, but the process is part of the original design of the U.S. Constitution, and it would take a Constitutional amendment to change it.
The Electoral College was also a compromise between the interests of states with smaller populations, such as Connecticut, New Jersey, and Maryland, and those with larger populations. Smaller states favored the Electoral College, with the assumption that the House of Representatives would decide most elections. The Electoral College was also intended to be a check on the uninformed mass electorate, with electors being more knowledgeable and responsible, and able to deliberate with the most complete information available.
The Electoral College has been criticised as "archaic" and "ambiguous", and public opinion polls have shown a majority in favor of abolishing it. However, surveys of political scientists have supported its continuation. The Electoral College has also contributed to runners-up in the nationwide popular vote being elected President, as the winner of the popular vote does not always win the Electoral College.
Who is a Citizen? Black People and the US Constitution
You may want to see also
The term electoral college is absent in the Constitution
The Founding Fathers established the Electoral College in the Constitution, in part, 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 consists of 538 electors. A majority of 270 electoral votes are required to elect the President.
The term "electoral college" is indeed absent from the US Constitution. Article II of the Constitution and the 12th Amendment refer to "electors" but not to the "electoral college". The Electoral College process is part of the original design of the US Constitution, and as such, it would require a Constitutional amendment to change this system.
The Founding Fathers established the Electoral College to allow electors, who were expected to be more knowledgeable and responsible, to do the actual choosing of the President. The process was designed to ensure that the choice of President reflected the "sense of the people" at a particular time, independent of the influence of "foreign powers".
Over the past 200 years, more than 700 proposals have been introduced in Congress to reform or eliminate the Electoral College. The American Bar Association has criticised the Electoral College as "archaic" and "ambiguous", and public opinion polls have shown that a majority of Americans favoured abolishing it in 1967, 1968, and 1981.
Constitution vs Virginia Plan: Why the Constitution Wins
You may want to see also
The college consists of 538 electors
The Electoral College is a process, not a place. The Founding Fathers established it in the Constitution, in part, 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, each of whom casts their votes for President and Vice President. The number of electors from each state is equal to the size of its Congressional delegation, with each state entitled to a minimum of three electors. This means that each state has one elector 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 Electoral College purposes under the 23rd Amendment of the Constitution.
The selection of electors occurs when voters in each state choose electors to serve in the Electoral College. The State Executive of each state then signs a Certificate of Ascertainment to appoint the electors. The electors meet in their respective states and cast their votes for President and Vice President on separate ballots. The votes are recorded on a Certificate of Vote, which is sent to Congress and the NARA. Members of the House and Senate then meet in a joint session to count the votes and announce the results.
The Electoral College system has been a subject of debate, with critics arguing that it does not represent the popular will of the nation. The system has been described as "archaic" and "ambiguous", and public opinion polls have shown a preference for its abolition. However, supporters argue that it requires presidential candidates to have broad appeal across the country.
Amendments to the Constitution: A Historical Overview
You may want to see also
Explore related products
Electors are chosen by voters in each state
The Electoral College is a process established by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution. It is 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, and a majority of 270 electoral votes are required to elect the President.
The voters in each state choose electors to serve in the Electoral College. Electors are generally chosen by voters in each state, with each state having a number of electors equal to the size of its Congressional delegation. This means that each state is entitled to at least three electors, regardless of its population. The electors are usually state elected officials, state party leaders, or people with a personal or political affiliation with their party's presidential candidate.
The names of the electors may or may not appear on the ballot, depending on the state's election procedures and ballot formats. The winning presidential candidate's slate of potential electors are then appointed as the state's electors, except in Nebraska and Maine, which have a proportional distribution of electors. The appointed electors then meet in their respective states and cast their votes for President and Vice President on separate ballots.
The electors' votes are recorded on a Certificate of Vote, which is sent to Congress to be counted. The process of electors choosing the President and Vice President is separate from the popular vote, and electors are not required to vote for the candidate who received the most votes in their state. However, electors generally hold a leadership position in their party or are chosen to recognize their loyal service to the party.
The Electoral College system has been a subject of ongoing debate, with critics arguing that it is not representative of the popular will of the nation. There have been numerous proposals to reform or eliminate the Electoral College, but it remains an integral part of the US Constitution and the presidential election process.
Enlightenment's Legacy: Constitution and Declaration's Ideals
You may want to see also
The college has faced criticism and calls for abolition
The Electoral College was 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 College has faced criticism and calls for abolition since its inception, with over 700 proposals introduced in Congress to reform or eliminate it in the past 200 years. The College has been criticised as "archaic" and "ambiguous" by the American Bar Association, and public opinion polls have shown a majority of Americans in favour of abolition in 1967, 1968, 1981, and 2019.
Supporters of the College argue that it requires presidential candidates to have broad appeal across the country to win, while critics argue that it is not representative of the popular will of the nation. Critics also point to the inequity created by the distribution of electors, where individual citizens in states with smaller populations have more voting power than those in larger states. This has resulted in the runner-up of the nationwide popular vote being elected president in 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016.
The College has also been criticised for granting disproportionate power to the slave states of the South before the Civil War, as each slave was counted as three-fifths of a person for the purpose of determining the number of that state's House seats and Electoral College votes. While this advantage disappeared after the Civil War, the two extra votes for senators continue to give small states disproportionate power.
In recent years, there has been a shift in public opinion, with a partisan divide emerging, as Republicans favour the College while Democrats oppose it. Calls for abolition have been made by Democratic presidential candidates, including Elizabeth Warren, Beto O'Rourke, and Pete Buttigieg, who wrote that "we need to re-evaluate the role of the Electoral College, which has — in my short lifetime — overruled the popular vote twice. It should be a commonsense position that the person who gets the most votes is the person who wins the presidency."
The College has also been criticised for contributing to income inequality and geographic disparities, as well as the potential for discrepancies between the popular vote and the Electoral College results to become more common due to economic and geographic inequities.
Social Compact: Foundation of the US Constitution
You may want to see also
Frequently asked questions
The Electoral College is a process, not a place. It is a group of intermediaries designated by the Constitution to select the President and Vice President of the United States.
The Electoral College was established by the Founding Fathers 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 Founding Fathers debated for months and eventually settled on the Electoral College as they could not agree.
The Electoral College consists of 538 electors. Each state gets as many electors as it has members of Congress (House and Senate). Each state's political parties choose their own slate of potential electors. The state's popular vote determines which party's slates will be made electors. Members of the Electoral College meet and vote in their respective states, then Congress meets in a joint session to count the votes. A candidate needs at least 270 votes to win.
The Electoral College has faced criticism for not being representative of the popular will of the nation. Critics argue that it gives citizens in states with smaller populations more voting power than those in larger states. The American Bar Association has called it "archaic" and "ambiguous", and public opinion polls have shown that a majority of Americans favoured abolishing it in 1967, 1968, and 1981.
Yes, over the past 200 years, more than 700 proposals have been introduced in Congress to reform or eliminate the Electoral College. An amendment to abolish the system was approved by the House in 1969 but did not pass the Senate.
