Simone Lawson
The Electoral College is a process, not a place, established by the Founding Fathers in the US Constitution to elect the President. The College consists of 538 electors, with each state appointing electors equal to the number of its Congressional delegation. The College has been a topic of debate since its inception, with critics arguing that it does not represent the popular will of the nation. The process involves the selection of electors, their meeting to vote for President and Vice President, and the counting of electoral votes by Congress. The College is mentioned in Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution, outlining the procedure for selecting the President and Vice President.
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What You'll Learn
The Electoral College is a process, not a place
The term "electoral college" does not appear in the 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 U.S. Constitution. Since its inception at the Constitutional Convention in 1787, the merit of the Electoral College system has been a matter of ongoing debate in the United States, becoming more controversial by the latter years of the 19th century, up to the present day.
The process of electing a president through the Electoral College involves several steps. Firstly, voters in each state choose electors to serve in the Electoral College on Election Day. Next, the State Executive of each state signs the Certificate of Ascertainment to appoint the electors chosen in the general election. Then, the electors in each state meet to select the President and Vice President of the United States. Finally, Congress meets in a joint session to count the electoral votes and the President-Elect is sworn in as President of the United States on Inauguration Day.
The process of selecting electors and casting votes is outlined in Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution. Each state appoints electors, with the number of electors equal to the state's Congressional delegation (including members of the House of Representatives and two Senators). The electors meet in their respective states and vote for two persons, ensuring that at least one of them is not an inhabitant of the same state. They create a list of the persons voted for and the number of votes received, which is then sent to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate opens the certificates, and the votes are counted. The person with the majority of votes becomes the President, and the person with the second-highest number of votes becomes the Vice President.
The Electoral College system has been criticised for not being representative of the popular will of the nation. The winner-take-all system used by most states can result in the candidate with the most popular votes nationwide losing the election. Additionally, the distribution of electors gives individuals in states with smaller populations more voting power than those in larger states.
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Electors are appointed by and act under the US Constitution
The Founding Fathers established the Electoral College in the US 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 term "electoral college" does not appear in the Constitution, but Article II of the Constitution and the 12th Amendment refer to "electors".
The Electoral College is a process, not a place. Electors are chosen by voters in each state to serve in the Electoral College. The State Executive of each state then signs a Certificate of Ascertainment to appoint the electors chosen in the general election. The number of electors each state appoints is equal to the size of its congressional delegation, so each state is entitled to a minimum of three electors, regardless of its population. The apportionment of the remaining electors is roughly proportional to the state's population.
The electors meet in their respective states and vote for two people, at least one of whom must not be an inhabitant of the same state as themselves. They then create a list of the people voted for and the number of votes each person received. This list is sent to the President of the Senate, who opens the certificates in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, and the votes are counted. The person with the greatest number of votes is the President, provided they have a majority of the whole number of electors appointed. If no one has a majority, the House of Representatives chooses the President from the five people with the most votes.
The Electoral College system has been a matter of ongoing debate in the United States since its inception at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Over 700 proposals have been introduced in Congress to reform or eliminate the Electoral College, and more resolutions have been submitted to amend this mechanism than any other part of the Constitution. Critics argue that it is not representative of the popular will of the nation, and that winner-take-all systems do not align with the principle of "one person, one vote".
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The President is chosen by the Electoral College
The President of the United States is chosen by the Electoral College, a process established by the Founding Fathers and outlined in Article II, Section 1, Clause 3 of the US Constitution. This process was designed as a compromise between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and election by a popular vote of qualified citizens.
The Electoral College consists of 538 electors, with each state appointing a number of electors equal to the size of its Congressional delegation (the state's number of members in the House of Representatives plus two Senators). This allocation ensures that each state has at least three electors, regardless of its population. The District of Columbia is allocated three electors and is treated like a state for Electoral College purposes under the 23rd Amendment.
On Election Day, voters in each state choose electors to serve in the Electoral College. These electors then meet in their respective states to vote for the President and Vice President. The electors vote by ballot for two persons, at least one of whom must not be an inhabitant of the same state as themselves. The electors then certify and transmit the list of votes to the US government.
The President of the Senate opens all the certificates in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, and the votes are counted. A majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the President. If no candidate receives a majority, the House of Representatives chooses the President from the five candidates with the highest number of votes.
The Electoral College system has been a subject of ongoing debate in the United States, with critics arguing that it does not align with the principle of "one person, one vote" and that it gives disproportionate influence to smaller states and swing states. Over the years, there have been numerous proposals to reform or abolish the Electoral College, but it remains an integral part of the US Constitution and the process for electing the President.
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The Founding Fathers established the Electoral College
The term "electoral college" does not appear in the Constitution, but Article II and the 12th Amendment refer to "electors". The process is part of the original design of the US Constitution, and it would require a Constitutional amendment to change it. The Founding Fathers established the Electoral College towards the end of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, due to pressure from slave states wanting to increase their voting power and from small states wanting more influence.
The Electoral College has been a source of ongoing debate in the United States since its inception, with supporters arguing that it requires presidential candidates to have broad appeal across the country, while critics argue that it does not represent the popular will of the nation. The American Bar Association has criticised the Electoral College as "archaic" and "ambiguous", and public opinion polls have shown majorities in favour of abolishing it in the past.
The process of the Electoral College begins with voters in each state choosing electors to serve in the Electoral College. The state executive of each state then signs a Certificate of Ascertainment to appoint the electors chosen in the general election. The electors meet and vote for the President and Vice President, and Congress meets to count the votes. The President-Elect is then sworn in as President of the United States.
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The Electoral College has been controversial since its inception
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 term "electoral college" does not appear in the Constitution, but the process is part of the original design of the US.
Another issue with the Electoral College is that it gives more weight to voters in small states than those in more populous ones. Every state gets a minimum of three electoral votes, and each state's total allotment is based on its representation in the Senate (always two people) and the House (which varies by population). This means that voters in small states have more power, per capita, to influence the outcome of the Electoral College and, by extension, the presidency.
The Electoral College has also been criticized for encouraging vote suppression, particularly in Southern states. After the Civil War, former slaves were counted as "whole" persons for purposes of electoral vote allotment, but Black voter suppression still took place through Jim Crow laws, which "inflated the electoral count of people who were not representing all the people in their state," according to Chris DeRosa, chair of the Department of History and Anthropology. DeRosa argues that "the Electoral College became a pillar of white supremacy."
Finally, the Electoral College suffers from the "faithless elector" issue, where electors cast their ballots in opposition to the dictates of their state's popular vote. While faithless electors rarely swing an election, they can create confusion and uncertainty about the outcome of the Electoral College.
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Frequently asked questions
The Electoral College is a process, not a place. It is a means of electing the President of the United States, established by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution.
The Electoral College consists of 538 electors, who meet in their respective states and vote for the President and Vice President. The electors are chosen by voters in each state. A majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the President.
The Electoral College 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. It was also influenced by the desires of slave states to increase their voting power and small states to have more power.
Critics argue that the Electoral College is not representative of the popular will of the nation. The \"winner-take-all\" system used by most states can result in the candidate with the most votes nationwide losing the election. There is also no uniform national system for appointing electors, and the distribution of electors gives citizens in smaller states more voting power.
