In June of 1804 the states had ratified the Twelfth Amendment which enacted the Electoral College in time for the 1804 election. When election time comes, Americans vote for the President and Vice President who are chosen by Presidential electors, who as a whole are known as the Electoral College. As a decision was needed for a method of choosing candidates, the Constitutional Convention of 1787 contemplated many different ways of electing the President, but toward the end of the proposals and ideas the matter had to be taken to the Committee of Eleven on Postponed Matters which is the committee who conceived the original Electoral College. In recent years, much debate has been stirring regarding whether or not the Electoral College has a place within this country's elections. For many states this method of tallying and casting votes is great because every state receives a minimum of three electoral votes considering each state has two senators and at least one representative (Lewis). However, these minimum electoral votes make the distribution of electoral college votes uneven throughout the fifty states, making each American citizen's vote count less or much more which is cause for change. If the information on these weighted votes is analyzed it can be concluded that states with a population similar to Wyoming has one “elector” for every 177, 556 persons while Texas has one “elector” for every 715,499 persons. While the Electoral College has worked for generations, there are some negative factors that give cause to abolish this practice, such that are; faithless electors, the winner take all system, and finally, safe and swing states. So what is the electoral college as defined in the constitution? The electoral college is a slate of electors who will cast the real votes for the president and vice president. These electors are appointed by the state in proportional amount to the number of senators that each state are entitled by congress as well as entitled representatives.. The actions of these electors and the manner of how they will be chosen is outlined by the Constitution, “The Congress may determine the Time of choosing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall
First off, what is the Electoral College? The Electoral College is the process put in place by our Founding Fathers in which America votes for its President and Vice President every four years. The Electoral College was put in place to help prevent abuse of power and corruption by having a separation of government. The Electoral College is made up of representatives from each state based on how many Senate and House of Representative delegates that state has. These numbers range from 3 to 54 with the total number of electors being 538. This system has taken much scrutiny over time. According to Lenz and Holman, “The Electoral College may be the least-known and most misunderstood government institution in the American political system.”
The Electoral College is the system established by the Founding Fathers to select the President of the United States. It is important that Americans have a fundamental knowledge of this system, and the obstacles overcame in its development. There were many obstacles faced by the Founding Fathers while constructing the government. America was comprised of 13 states that wanted to protect their individual rights and leery of a strong centralized government. The nation’s population lay across a vast area with limited communication capabilities. In addition, the Founders believed that a true gentleman should not campaign for office. “The office should seek the man, the man should not seek the office” was the saying. They challenged themselves
The Electoral College is the indirect election of the President of the United States. We, the people, vote for the president which determines the popular vote, but we don't truly elect the president, it just selects the electors so THEY choose the president. That is the second-part process of choosing electors. The first-part process is that the political parties in each state select electors. Although this assembly was needed back when the constitution was first established, because people didn't know much about the requirements of a President and they didn't know much about the presidential candidates because of the very little technology back then, we no longer need the Electoral College, and we should no longer have this assembly of electors.
The Electoral College is a system of electing our President. Each state gets a specific number of electoral votes which are cast by that states electoral slate or group of electors. In 1787, the government extended the Connecticut Compromise to the Electoral College, meaning that the state is allocated their votes based on how many people they have in the Senate (two) and then how many Representative’s they have (Estes 256). This system requires a slate of electors from each of the states that can be selected by the state legislature as stated in the Constitution, “qualified men,” in the early 1790s, meaning male, white, and land
“The Electoral College is made up of 538 electors who cast votes to decide the President and Vice-President of the United States” (What is the Electoral College, 2012). In order for a candidate to win they must get the majority of the electoral votes which is 270. How does the Electoral College work? Every four years when people go to the polls to vote for the new president and the vice president of the United States, in all but two states (Nebraska, and
The Electoral College is a constitutional system written in 1787, in this system “each state selects as many electors as it has representatives in Congress”, members of the college casts ballots for individuals, the individual with the most electoral votes becomes the President of the United States (Shelley 80). It is
The Electoral College has always been a topic up for debate. From the very beginning, its method for electing a president was criticized. Even now, well over two-hundred years after the idea was first introduced, people are still questioning whether or not it is our best option. There have been a very large number of proposals suggested to change the ways of the Electoral College, but all of them have failed. Regardless of the views that it is outdated, or your vote doesn’t matter with the current system, the Electoral College has stood the test of time. “It is an institution that has survived as part of the democratic process, but its relevancy to current political realities has been questioned time and time again”(McCollester). People still wonder why the system is invincible. Why, in the face of so many attempts to reform or destroy it, is the Electoral College still in place?
The Electoral College system, while not completely unique to the United States, is the best way for our country to choose the next President of the United States. So what exactly is the Electoral College? “When the founders of the United States set out to secure a system of political
In my opinion the Electoral College is very misunderstood. The Electoral College is a group of officials who elect the president every four years. It is the indirect method of elections. Many people think that they would be voting directly for a presidential candidate when voting, but it is not that simple.
The Electoral College is a body that elects the President and Vice President of the United States. When Americans endeavor to vote for the President and Vice President, they are actually voting for Presidential Electors who comprise the Electoral College. These Electors elect the Chief Executive. The Constitution assigns each state a number of Electors based on population. The number of Electors per state ranges from 3 to 54. In most states, all the electoral votes for that state are assigned to the candidate who earns the most popular votes. Maine and Nebraska are exceptions that apportion their electoral votes. In order to win the Presidency, a candidate must get at least 270 of the electoral votes. While winning the
Though the name would seem to imply otherwise, the Electoral College is a process rather than a place (Office of the Federal Register, 2016). In actuality, it is an indirect system that is used to elect the president of the United States. Instead of voting directly for a specific candidate for president, when voters cast their votes during a presidential election in the United
The founding fathers established the Electoral College in the constitution as a compromise in the election of the president by voting in congress and electing the president by popular vote of citizens who are qualified. Existing for a long time by Article Two of the United States Constitution in the result of United States presidential election system to hand-pick the President of the United States and Vice President of the United States. The people of the United States get to vote in each state at a widespread election to choose a list of electors pledged to vote for a party’s candidate. Each states is entitled to their assigned number of electors which equal the number of members in its congressional delegation. This is, for each house of
What is the Electoral College? The Electoral College is a system that our Founding Fathers established in the Constitution in which representatives from the 50 states elect the President of the United States. The system begins with the people electing representatives to represent them, and then the representatives meet so they can vote for the next President and Vice President. The votes from each representative are then counted by Congress and are able to elect the candidate that has the most votes. According to the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (2013), “The Electoral College consists of 538 electors…270 electoral votes is required to elect the President.” Every state has an
The Electoral College is the process in which electors vote for the president of the United States.
What is the electoral college you may ask. According to Oxford dictionary, the electoral college is; “(in the US) a body of people representing the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the election of the president and vice president.” You may then ask, “but don 't i vote for the election of the president and vice president? The electoral college is a group of chosen electors that vote for whom they see fit as being our next president and vice president. Their votes are then counted by Congress. Each state has a certain number of electors. For example california has 55 while alaska has 3. In all, it is made up of 538 electors. How they’re chosen is political parties nominate electors at their state conventions. The electors are usually state-elected officials, party leaders, or people with a strong affiliation with the Presidential candidates. The state will then need a majority of 270 votes to elect the