Simone Lawson
The Electoral College is a process, not a place, established by the Founding Fathers in the US Constitution. The Electoral College process 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 process is outlined in Article II, Section 1, Clause 3 of the US Constitution, which describes the procedure for selecting the President and Vice President. The provision was superseded by the Twelfth Amendment, ratified in 1804. The Electoral College system has been a topic of considerable interest and has undergone significant constitutional, legislative, and political upheaval and revision.
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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, while others insisted on a democratic popular vote. Their compromise is known as the Electoral College. This system calls for the creation, every four years, of a temporary group of electors equal to the total number of representatives in Congress.
The Founding Fathers also had to consider the persistence of slavery in the United States when devising the Electoral College. The divide between slave-owning and non-slave-owning states was a sticking point, as it was in the distribution of seats in the House of Representatives. James Madison from Virginia, where 60% of the population was enslaved, knew that a direct presidential election or one with electors chosen according to free white residents wouldn't be accepted in the South.
The Founding Fathers also created the Electoral College because they didn't trust ordinary citizens to be informed enough to adequately pick the president. They also worried that citizens would band together based on personal interests, rather than the overall good of the nation.
The Electoral College has been criticised as "archaic" and "ambiguous" and many proposals have been introduced in Congress to reform or eliminate it. However, it remains a part of the original design of the U.S. Constitution, and any change to the system would require a Constitutional amendment.
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The role of electors
The Electoral College is a process that was 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 term "electoral college" does not appear in the Constitution, but Article II and the 12th Amendment refer to "electors".
The electors are chosen in the general election, and the winning candidate's state political party selects the individuals who will be electors. The electors then meet and vote for the President and Vice President, and the electoral votes are counted by Congress. The President-elect is then sworn in as President of the United States.
The U.S. Constitution contains very few provisions relating to the qualifications of electors. However, it is important to note that state laws vary on how electors are selected and what their responsibilities are.
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Amendments to the Electoral College
The Electoral College is a part of the original design of the U.S. Constitution, and therefore, a constitutional amendment is required to change the system. The Twelfth Amendment, proposed by Congress on December 9, 1803, and ratified on June 15, 1804, is one of the most notable amendments to the Electoral College. It replaced the procedure in Article II, Section 1, Clause 3, under which the Electoral College originally functioned. The Twelfth Amendment modified the Electoral College to be more accommodating of party politics in presidential elections, requiring electors to cast one vote for president and one for vice president. It also stipulated that one of the candidates must not be from the same state as the elector.
Over the years, there have been numerous proposals to amend or abolish the Electoral College. Many of these proposals aim for direct popular elections of the president and vice president. The closest the U.S. came to abolishing the Electoral College was during the 91st Congress (1969-1971), spurred by concerns over the disparity between the popular vote and electoral vote in the 1968 presidential election. However, the proposal ultimately failed to pass.
In recent years, there have been continued efforts to amend the Electoral College. In 2005 and 2009, Representative Gene Green (D-Texas) introduced legislation to abolish the Electoral College and elect the president and vice president by a plurality of the national vote. Similar joint resolutions have been proposed by Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Illinois) and Senator Bill Nelson (D-Florida). On November 15, 2016, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-California) introduced a proposal to abolish the Electoral College and provide for direct popular elections. More recently, on December 16, 2024, Democratic Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Dick Durbin (D-Illinois), and Peter Welch (D-Vermont) proposed a Constitutional Amendment to abolish the Electoral College.
While there is significant public support for abolishing the Electoral College, with polls showing majorities of up to 81% in favor, there is also opposition. Some argue that the Electoral College is a fundamental part of the original Constitution, and it helps prevent ties and deadlocks in elections. Additionally, lead objectors to proposals to abolish the Electoral College, including southern senators and conservatives from small states, argue that it would reduce their states' political influence.
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The selection of the President and Vice President
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 by a popular vote of qualified citizens. The term "electoral college" does not appear in the Constitution, but Article II and the 12th Amendment refer to
The Electoral College consists of 538 electors, with each state appointing a number of electors equal to the size of its Congressional delegation (its number of members in the House of Representatives plus two Senators). This means that each state is entitled to a minimum of three electors. The District of Columbia is allocated three electors and is treated like a state for Electoral College purposes under the 23rd Amendment.
The process of selecting the President and Vice President begins with the selection of electors. Voters in each state choose electors to serve in the Electoral College, and the state executive of each state signs a Certificate of Ascertainment to appoint the electors chosen in the general election. The electors then meet in their respective states to vote for the President and Vice President.
The electors vote by ballot for two people, at least one of whom must not be an inhabitant of the same state as themselves. They create a list of the people voted for and the number of votes each person received, which is then sent to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate opens the certificates in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, and the votes are counted. The person with the majority of votes becomes President, and the person with the second-highest number of votes becomes Vice President. However, if there is a tie for the position of President or Vice President, the House of Representatives or the Senate, respectively, chooses between the candidates.
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The counting of votes
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 term "electoral college" does not appear in the Constitution, but Article II and the 12th Amendment refer to "electors".
The process of the Electoral College 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 process for choosing the President had some unanticipated results, such as when Thomas Jefferson, the leader of the opposition, became John Adams' Vice President. In 1800, the Republican-Democrat electors gave both their votes to Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, resulting in a tie.
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Frequently asked questions
No, the term "electoral college" does not appear in the Constitution. However, Article II of the Constitution and the 12th Amendment refer to "electors".
The Electoral College is a process, not a place. 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 Electoral College consists of 538 electors. 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 voters in each state choose electors to serve in the Electoral College. The electors then meet to select the President and Vice President of the United States. Finally, Congress meets in a joint session to count the electoral votes.
