Omar Bennett
The Electoral College is a process, not a place, that elects the President of the United States. 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 to select the President and Vice President. The Founding Fathers had four main objectives for the Electoral College. Firstly, the Electoral College was created to provide the presidency with its own base of support. Secondly, the Electoral College was designed to govern the entirety of the process of selecting the president and vice president, from the initial function of identifying and winnowing the candidates to the final stage of electing these officers. Thirdly, the College was intended to be an alternative to another method proposed at the Convention, the selection of the president by Congress, which would have risked making the executive subservient to the legislature. Finally, the Electoral College was established in part as a political workaround for the persistence of slavery in the United States.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Reason for creation | 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. |
| Founding Fathers' assumptions | Most elections would ultimately be decided by neither the people nor the electors, but by the House of Representatives. |
| Number of Electors | 538 electors |
| Majority required to elect the President | 270 electoral votes |
| Distribution of Electors | One for each Member in the House of Representatives plus two Senators |
| District of Columbia | Treated like a State with 3 electors |
| States' allotment of electoral votes | All but Maine and Nebraska give all their electoral votes to the candidate who wins the state's popular vote count. |
| Certificate of Ascertainment | Prepared by the State's Executive, listing the names of individuals on the slates for each candidate, the number of votes each received, and the appointed electors. |
| Meeting of Electors | First Tuesday after the second Wednesday in December after the general election |
| Election of President and Vice President | Twelfth Amendment mandates a distinct vote for each. |
| Election without a majority | If no candidate has a majority vote, the House of Representatives chooses the President and the Senate chooses the Vice President. |
| Number of proposals to reform or eliminate the Electoral College | Over 700 |
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What You'll Learn
- The Electoral College was a compromise between Congress and popular vote
- It was designed to provide the presidency with its own base of support
- The Founding Fathers assumed states would decide elections, not people or electors
- The Electoral College has produced winners who lost the popular vote
- Critics call the Electoral College archaic and ambiguous
The Electoral College was a compromise between Congress and popular vote
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 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 U.S. and it would require a Constitutional amendment to change it.
The Electoral College is a process, not a place, and it is the fourth national institution created by the Constitution, along with Congress, the presidency, and the Court. The Founding Fathers debated for months, with some arguing that Congress should pick the president and others insisting on a democratic popular vote. Their compromise is known as the Electoral College.
The Electoral College was created to provide the presidency with its own base of support, as an alternative to the selection of the president by Congress, which could have made the executive subservient to the legislature. The 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 Electoral College consists of 538 electors, and a majority of 270 electoral votes are required to elect the President.
The Electoral College has been criticised as "archaic" and "ambiguous", and there have been many proposals to reform or eliminate it over the years. However, supporters argue that it is a fundamental part of the original Constitution and that it ensures that every part of the Union attracts political investment and campaigning.
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It was designed to provide the presidency with its own base of support
The Electoral College was established by the Founding Fathers 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 term "electoral college" does not appear in the Constitution, but the process is part of its original design. 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 designed to provide the presidency with its own base of support. It was created as an alternative to another method proposed at the Convention, the selection of the president by Congress, which would have risked making the executive subservient to the legislature. The Founding Fathers had four main objectives for the Electoral College. The Electoral College established in Article II, Section I, remains in effect, although it operates differently from what was originally envisaged.
The Electoral College is a process, not a place. It is the means for electing the President of the United States. 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, 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. The state executive of each state then signs the Certificate of Ascertainment to appoint the electors chosen in the general election.
The Twelfth Amendment made a series of adjustments to the Electoral College system. It mandated that a distinct vote be taken for the president and vice president. Additionally, one of the selected candidates must not be from the same state as the elector. If no presidential candidate receives a majority vote, or in the case of a tie, the House of Representatives chooses the president.
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The Founding Fathers assumed states would decide elections, not people or electors
The Founding Fathers established the Electoral College 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 term "electoral college" does not appear in the Constitution, but the process is part of its original design. The Founding Fathers assumed that each elector's vote would be counted, and most states have a "winner-take-all" system that awards all electors to the candidate who wins the state's popular vote. However, the Founders also assumed that most elections would be decided by neither the people nor the electors but by the House of Representatives, as outlined in the Constitution.
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 created to provide the presidency with its own base of support, as selecting the president by Congress would have risked making the executive subservient to the legislature. The Founding Fathers also wanted to ensure that every part of the Union would attract political investment and campaigning by the parties.
The Electoral College has been criticised as "archaic" and "ambiguous", and there have been many proposals to reform or eliminate it. However, supporters argue that it is a fundamental part of the original Constitution and that the Twelfth Amendment has managed to sort out the majority of ties and deadlocks. The party in power typically benefits from the existence of the Electoral College, and it would require a two-thirds supermajority in Congress plus ratification by three-fourths of the states to change the system.
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The Electoral College has produced winners who lost the popular vote
The Electoral College was established by the Founding Fathers 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 its original design.
The Electoral College has, indeed, produced winners who lost the popular vote. In at least five presidential elections (1824, 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016), the candidate who prevailed in the popular vote lost in the Electoral College. For example, in 2000, Al Gore received over 500,000 more votes than George W. Bush nationally, but Bush won in the Electoral College after the Supreme Court intervened to halt a Florida Supreme Court order to recount ballots in some counties.
This outcome has led to questions about why the Electoral College system is used to elect the President. Critics argue that a popular vote would be more straightforward and accommodating for voters. The Electoral College has been described as "archaic" and "ambiguous", and public opinion polls have shown that a majority of Americans have favoured abolishing it at various points in history.
However, supporters of the Electoral College argue that it is a fundamental part of the original Constitution and that it ensures that every part of the Union attracts political investment and campaigning. They also contend that it prevents "wrong winners" and provides a check on majority rule, guaranteeing that the President has a base of support beyond Congress.
The Electoral College process has been substantially altered over time, and it would require a Constitutional amendment to change the system. This amendment would need to be proposed by a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress and ratified by three-fourths of the states. Despite its contentious nature and numerous proposals for reform, the Electoral College remains in place as the method for electing the President of the United States.
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Critics call the Electoral College archaic and ambiguous
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 that 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 term "electoral college" does not appear in the Constitution, and critics have called the Electoral College archaic and ambiguous. The American Bar Association has criticized the Electoral College as "archaic" and "ambiguous", and its polling showed that 69% of lawyers favored abolishing it in 1987. Public opinion polls have also shown majorities of Americans favoring abolition in 1967 (58%), 1968 (81%), and 1981 (75%). The Electoral College has been called an "anachronism" that "thwarts" democratic principles, "constitutional stupidity", and a "dangerous game" with "many built-in pitfalls". In 1967, the American Bar Association called the system "archaic, undemocratic, complex, ambiguous, indirect, and dangerous". An ABA commission on electoral reform concluded that the College is "archaic, undemocratic, complex, ambiguous, indirect, and dangerous".
The Electoral College has been criticized for producing winners who lost the national popular vote. In at least five presidential elections (1824, 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016), the presidential candidate who prevailed in the popular vote lost in the Electoral College. For example, in the 2000 election, Al Gore received over 500,000 more votes than George W. Bush did nationally, but lost to Bush in the Electoral College by a vote of 266 to 271. Critics argue that the Electoral College thwarts democratic principles by allowing a candidate who lost the popular vote to become President.
The Electoral College has also been criticized for its complexity and ambiguity. Many Americans do not fully understand how the Electoral College works, and minute changes in votes cast could have changed many election outcomes. The Electoral College is also seen as a "dangerous game" with "many built-in pitfalls". For example, third-party candidates have not fared well in the Electoral College system, and it is difficult to know how a candidate who does not win the popular vote would fare under a different system.
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Frequently asked questions
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 that takes place to elect the President and Vice President of the United States. The voters in each state choose electors to serve in the Electoral College, who then meet to vote for the President and Vice President. Congress then counts the electoral votes.
The Electoral College has been criticised as "archaic" and "ambiguous", and there have been many proposals to reform or eliminate it. In five presidential elections, the candidate who won the popular vote lost in the Electoral College, leading to questions about why the system is used.
