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ELECTORAL COLLEGE.

History, structure, function of presidential election system. Problem of election of a minority President. Arguments over the Electoral College.

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THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE: KILL IT OR KEEP IT?
Introduction
Shortly after the polls closed in Iowa on election night, Florida was called for Gore and it appeared as if George W. Bush was going to win the popular vote, but lose in the Electoral College. Of course, as the evening wore on the situation was reversed, as the election of 2000 became the first presidential election since 1888 in which the winner of the popular vote would not win the electoral vote and take office as President. As the election results centered on disputed votes in Florida, the election of 1876, in which the House or Representatives had to choose between competing slates of electors in an election that resulted in the winner, Rutherford B. Hayes, being known as "His Fraudlency" during his single term of office, calls to abolish the

One way in which a minority presidentcould be elected is if the country were so deeply divided politically thatthree or more presidential candidates split the electoral votes among themsuch that no one obtained the necessary majority. 65, No. Recognizing the strong regional interests and loyalties which haveplayed so great a role in American history, proponents argue that thesystem contributes to the cohesiveness of the country be requiring adistribution of popular support to be elected president; without this, thepresident would be selected either through the domination of one populousregion over the others or through the domination of large metropolitanareas over the rural ones. House of Representativeswill select the president from among the top three contenders with eachState casting only one vote and an absolute majority being required toelect (Schlesinger 46). Far from being unusual,this sort of thing has, in fact, happened 16 times including - in thiscentury - Wilson in both 1912 and 1916, Truman in 1948, Kennedy in 196 ,Nixon in 1968 and Clinton in 1992. Theclaim is a weak one, though, since six of the twenty four States at thetime still chose their Electors in the State legislature, and New Yorkwould likely have returned large majorities for Adams had there been apopular election (Schlesinger 72). This occurred, as notedabove, in 1824 and was unsuccessfully attempted in 1948 and again in 1968.Should that happen today, there are two possible resolutions: either onecandidate could throw his electoral votes to the support of another beforethe meeting of the Electors, or else, absent an absolute majority in theElectoral College, the U.S. 2; p. Conclusions The Electoral College has performed its function for over 2 yearsand in over 5 presidential elections by ensuring that the President of theUnited States has both sufficient popular support to govern and that hispopular support is sufficiently distributed throughout the country toenable him to govern effectively. Representatives. In the event that no one obtained an absolute majority in theElectoral College or in the event of a tie vote, the U.S. Of course, as the eveningwore on the situation was reversed, as the election of 2 became thefirst presidential election since 1888 in which the winner of the popularvote would not win the electoral vote and take office as President. The idea wasthat the winner would likely be everyone's second favorite choice, and thustruly be a "national" candidate who could govern effectively (Hoffman 945). This election is often cited as the first one in which the candidatewho obtained the greatest popular vote failed to be elected president. One result of this is to make it extremelydifficult for third party or independent candidates ever to make much of ashowing in the Electoral College. Proposals to abolish the ElectoralCollege, though frequently put forward, have failed largely because thealternatives to it appear more problematic than is the College itself. Hayes, being known as "His Fraudlency" during his single term of office,calls to abolish the Electoral College were once again heard across theland. In theElectoral College system, the States serve as the Centurial groups; thenumber of votes per State is determined by the size of each State'sCongressional delegation. 16-22. Bush was going to win thepopular vote, but lose in the Electoral College. House of Representatives would select thepresident in accordance with the 12th Amendment. A review of the voting results of 2 shows that a similar votingpattern between Al Gore and George Bush was established, which demonstratesthat this may be the only way in which the loser of the popular vote may bethe winner of the electoral vote nowadays. This law finally came into play inthe election of 2 , regarding the choice of Florida electors had not theSupreme Court stepped into the situation. Calhoun did receive enough electoral votes tobecome vice president. In 1876, the county once again found itself in serious politicalturmoil echoing, in some respects the economic divisions of 1824, but withthe added bitterness of Reconstruction. If that, too, was tied, the U.S. The idea of a direct popular vote was presented and rejected, notbecause the Framers of the Constitution doubted public intelligence butrather because they feared that without sufficient information aboutcandidates from outside their State, people would naturally vote for a"favorite son." At worst, no president would emerge with a popular majoritysufficient to govern the whole country. "The Case Against the Direct Election of the President;"Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1975. The incumbent, Democrat Grover Cleveland, ran up huge popularmajorities in several of the 18 States which supported him, while Harrisonwon only slender majorities in some of the larger of the 2 States whichsupported him. The person with the most electoral votes, provided that it was anabsolute majority of at least one over half the total, became president.Whoever obtained the next greatest number of electoral votes became vicepresident. The only remarkable thing about thoseoutcomes is that few people noticed and even fewer cared. Members of Congress and employees of the federal governmentwere prohibited from serving as an Elector in order to maintain the balancebetween the legislative and executive branches of the federal government.Each State's Electors were required to meet in their respective Statesrather than all together; this arrangement was thought to prevent bribery,corruption, secret dealing, and foreign influence. Since this bargainingover the presidency was the very thing the Electoral College was supposedto prevent, Congress and the States adopted the Twelfth Amendment to theConstitution by September of 18 4. Exactly as the title states: a historical analysis of electionsfrom Washington to Nixon.Simendinger, Alexis and James A. Annotated Bibliography------. What's going on in Florida may not be pretty, but the ElectoralCollege allows us to focus on just one state rather than a recounteverywhere.----------------------- 13 The result is that in 1988, for example, thecombined voting age population - 3,119, - of the seven least populousjurisdictions of Alaska, Delaware, the District of Columbia, North Dakota,South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming carried the same voting strength in theElectoral College (21 Electoral votes) as the 9,614, persons of votingage in the State of Florida. John Bolingbroke, that political parties weremischievous if not downright evil, and that gentlemen should not campaignfor public office; the saying was "The office should seek the man, the manshould not seek the office." Their goal was to choose a president withoutpolitical parties, without national campaigns, and without upsetting thecarefully designed balance between the presidency and the Congress on onehand and between the States and the federal government on the other(Schlesinger 12). The idea was forthe most knowledgeable and informed individuals from each State to selectthe president based solely on merit and without regard to State of originor political party (Best, 47). Longley, "The People's President: TheElectoral College in American History and the Direct- Vote Alternative;"New Haven: Yale University Press, 1981. The tie was resolved by the House of Representatives inJefferson's favor - but only after 36 votes and some serious politicaldealings which were considered unseemly at the time. 4; Pgs: 935-1 21. The ElectoralCollege has encouraged and helps maintain a two party system in the UnitedStates simply because it is difficult for a new or minor party to winenough popular votes in enough States to have a chance of winning thepresidency. Finally, a so-called "Committee of Eleven" proposed an indirectelection of the president through a College of Electors. One idea was to have the Congress choose thepresident. Either way, though, theperson taking office would not have obtained the absolute majority of thepopular vote. By thusfailing to accurately reflect the national popular will, the ElectoralCollege reinforces a two party system, discourages third party orindependent candidates, and thereby tends to restrict choices available tothe electorate (Anderson 21). The nation they proposed to governwas composed of thirteen large and small States jealous of their own rightsand powers and suspicious of any central national government, which had apopulation of only 4, , people spread up and down a thousand miles ofAtlantic seaboard barely connected by transportation or communication sothat national campaigns were impractical even if they had been thoughtdesirable. 1, Pg. The Illegitimate President: Minority VoteDilution and the Electoral College;" Yale Law Journal; January 1996;Vol. The Electoral College has served its purpose under the Constitutionfor more than 15 years.Pierce, Neal R. 23; Pg. Even if they won enough electoral votes to force the decisioninto the U.S. 1 Pg. The Congressestablished a special 15 member commission to decide the issue with theresult that Hayes was elected president despite the fact that Tilden, byeveryone's count, had obtained a slight majority of popular votes (Berns 32-38). The Presidential controversy in Florida has shown that too many ofour electoral rules and practices are antiquated and unexamined.Berns, Walter. Analysis of the creation of the Electoral College, argues theFounding Fathers were not against democracy but wanted to unify thecountry.Glassman, James. There were fourfairly strong contenders in the presidential contest: Andrew Jackson, JohnQuincy Adams, William Crawford, and Henry Clay. The incumbent Grant administrationhad suffered a seemingly endless series of scandals involving graft andcorruption on a scale hitherto unknown, and the South was eager to put anend to Radical Reconstruction. and Lawrence D. The Constitutional Convention considered several possible methods ofselecting a president. At best, the choice of presidentwould always be decided by the largest, most populous States with littleregard for the smaller ones (Hoffman 941). Critical analysis of the Electoral College as an anti- democraticinstitution.Schlesinger, Arthur M. A second idea was to have the State legislatures select thepresident. Senate would break thetie by deciding between the two (Hoffman 95 ). Each group was entitled to cast one vote either foror against proposals submitted to them by the Roman Senate. 4-6. This lasted only four presidential elections. There is also a requirementthat the country be very evenly divided politically, a situation that untilthis election had not existed in the United States since the late 19thCentury. Defenders say the Electoral College contributes to the politicalstability of the nation by encouraging a two party system. Reform the Electoral College, Don't Toss It; American Enterprise; March, 2 1; Vol. In addition toprotecting the presidency from impassioned but transitory third partymovements, the practical effect of the Electoral College is to virtuallyforce third party movements into one of the two major political parties.One can argue whether or not this is a good thing, but it does contributeto stability (Pierce, Longley 187). 97-152. Barnes, "Pondering a Popular Vote";Cannon, Carl M.; Steel, Michael: "As Maine and Nebraska Co..."; Cohen,Richard E. In fact, the Electoral College has served its purpose under theConstitution for more than 15 years (Hoffman 935). It has operatedquietly, smoothly and effectively; so much so that the general public ishardly aware of its existence, other than at times like this, which was thefirst time since 1888 that the system did not function as originallyplanned, even if the result was one that could be lived with. Even so, the difference between them was only 11 ,476 votesout of 11,381, 32 cast - less than 1% of the total (Schlesinger 93). This Amendment requires that eachElector cast one vote for president and a separate vote for vice president,rather than casting two votes for president with the runner-up being madevice president. Each Floridian's potential vote, then, carriedabout one third the weight of a potential vote in the other States (Cohen,Jacobson 136). Themanner of choosing the Electors was left to the individual Statelegislatures, which pacified States suspicious of a central nationalgovernment. This was rejected out of fears a president so beholden to theState legislatures might permit them to erode federal authority and thusundermine the whole idea of a federation. Under that system, the adult malecitizens of Rome were divided, according to their wealth, into groups of1 , called Centuries. 1 5, No. In accordance with the provisions of the 12thAmendment, the choice of president went to the House of Representatives,who narrowly selected John Quincy Adamsdespite the fact that Andrew Jackson had obtained the greater number ofelectoral votes (Hoffman 956). Importantly, to prevent Electors from voting only for a "favoriteson" of their own State, each Elector was required to cast two votes forpresident, at least one for someone outside their home State. This built upon an earlier compromise in the designof the Congress itself and thus satisfied both large and small States. First, the distribution of Electoral votes in the College tendsto over-represent people in rural States, because the number of Electors isdetermined by the number of members it has in the House plus the number ofmembers it has in the Senate. As theelection results centered on disputed votes in Florida, the election of1876, in which the House or Representatives had to choose between competingslates of electors in an election that resulted in the winner, RutherfordB. On election night, it looked as thoughTilden had pulled off the first Democratic presidential victory since theCivil War - although the decisive electoral votes of South Carolina,Florida, and Louisiana remained in balance; each of them finally deliveredtwo sets of electoral votes, one for Tilden and one for Hayes. 12 No. This idea was rejected, however, because some felt that makingsuch a choice would be too divisive an issue and leave too many hardfeelings in the Congress, not to mention the possibilities for corruptionin making such a choice, leaving the government with no legitimacy, not tomention it the damage it could do to the separation of powers between theexecutive and the legislative functions (Hoffman 937). "The Electoral College: Don't Drop Out;" National Review;December 4, 2 ; Vol. (National Review 5) The last Electoral College difficulty prior to the election of 2 was Benjamin Harrison's election in 1888, the only clear-cut instance inwhich the Electoral College vote went contrary to the popular vote for 112years. 52 No. In the presidential election of 18 , the Electors of the Democratic-Republican Party gave Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr an equal number ofelectoral votes. Introduction Shortly after the polls closed in Iowa on election night, Florida wascalled for Gore and it appeared as if George W. 25 No. It is because of the Electoral College thatpresidential nominees are inclined to select vice presidential runningmates from a region other than their own (Solomon 15 ). House of Representatives, they would have to have a majorityof over half the State delegations in order to elect their candidate and inthat case, they would hardly be considered a minor party. 17-21. No one of them obtained the necessary majority to become president,although the popular John C. It is unclear how a direct election of the president could resolvesuch a deep national conflict without introducing a presidential run-offelection, a procedure which would add substantially to the time, cost, andeffort already devoted to selecting a president and which might well deepenthe political divisions while trying to resolve them (Anderson 2 ). After the 2 presidential election, many confused voters thinkthe electoral college thwarts the will of the people and want todismantle it.Hoffman, Matthew M. In the first design of the Electoral College, described in ArticleII, Section 1 of the Constitution, each State was allocated a number ofElectors equal to the number of its U.S. A History of the Electoral College In order to appreciate the reasons for the Electoral College, it isessential to understand its historical context and the problem that theFounding Fathers were trying to solve. Academic study of the operation of the Electoral College and thechoosing of electors, with historical analysis.Best, Judith. and Louis Jacobson, "Can It Be Done?"; Solomon, Burt: "WhatWere They Thinking?"; in "Abolish the Electoral College;" NationalJournal; November 18, 2 ; Vol. Each represented animportant faction within the now vastly-dominant Democratic-RepublicanParty. In the meantime,political parties had emerged in the United States, as the idea had gainedrespectability through the persuasive writings of such politicalphilosophers as Edmund Burke and James Madison. Some opponents of the Electoral College point out, quite correctly,its failure to accurately reflect the national popular will in at least tworespects. The Amendment also stipulates that if no one receives anabsolute majorityof electoral votes for president, then the U.S. Jr. Proposals to abolish the Electoral College in favor of a directpopular vote will probably never happen because too many small statesare committed to keeping it.Anderson, John B., "Flunk the Electoral College, Pass InstantRunoffs;" The Progressive; January 2 1; Vol. As these elections demonstrate, the Electoral College system imposestwo requirements on candidates for the presidency: that the victor obtain asufficient popular vote to enable him to govern, although this may not bethe absolute majority, and that such a popular vote be sufficientlydistributed across the county to enable him to govern (Glassman 17). "History of Presidential Elections 1789-1968;" New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1971. The vicepresidency would go to whatever remaining contender had the greatest numberof electoral votes. Nor would adirect election have changed those outcomes without a run-off requiringover 5 % of the popular vote (Simendinger, Barnes 1 1). Senators plus the number of itsU.S. "After the People Vote: Steps in Choosing the President;" Washington: American Enterprise Institute for PublicPolicy Research, 1983. If, for example, a third party orindependent candidate were to win the support of even as many as 25% of thevoters nationwide, he might still end up with no Electoral College votes atall unless he won a plurality of votes in at least one State. THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE: KILL IT OR KEEP IT? The structure of the Electoral College can be traced to the CenturialAssembly system of the Roman Republic. As a result of this election, Congress enacted legislation in 1887delegating to each State the final authority to determine the legality ofits choice of Electors and required a concurrent majority of both houses ofCongress to reject any electoral vote. Another way the Electoral College fails to reflect the nationalpopular will stems from the winner-take-all system where the presidentialcandidate who wins the most popular votes in the State wins all theElectoral votes of that State. Another way of electing a minority president is if a third party orcandidate, however small, drew enough votes from the top two that no onereceived over 5 % of the national popular total. Arguments Over the Electoral College Opponents of the Electoral College are disturbed by the possibilityof electing a minority president. The Founders believed, under the influence of such British politicalthinkers as Henry St. House ofRepresentatives, as the chamber closest to the people, would choose thepresident from among the top five contenders. This system was first tested in the election of 1824. The similarities between the Electoral Collegeand classical institutions are not accidental, since many of the FoundingFathers were well schooled in ancient history(Best 41). As a further concession tothe small States, each State would cast only one vote with an absolutemajority of the States being required to elect a president.

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