The question of how to select the president was one of the most contentious considered by the Constitutional Convention in 1787, with big and small states, slave- and free-states pushing their interests. As a result, in Article 2, section 1 of the Constitution, the Electoral College is set up. The delegates of the Constitutional Convention decided on this system of indirect election of the president. This resulted because some delegates supported a direct election by citizens while others favored having Congress choose the president. Still others thought that state legislatures should make the choice. Originally, each state would choose electors equal in number to its representatives and senators. The electors would vote for two candidates each, at least one of whom had to be from another state. The person that would end up receiving the most votes would become President; the runner-up became the Vice President. If no person received a majority, the House of Representatives would choose from the leading three candidates, somewhat similar to our current rule in case of neither candidate garnering at least 270 electoral votes. However today, to become President, a candidate must win 270 electoral votes, an absolute majority. The College currently consists of 538 electors, the total number of representatives and senators, plus 3 electors for the District of Columbia. Also, candidates are now nominated to run only for president or only for vice president. Electors vote for
Though our founding fathers created the Electoral College over 200 years ago, it has been changed with time to accommodate modern needs and is still an important and necessary part of our electoral system. The Electoral College ensures political stability in our nation by encouraging the two-party system and also protects the interests of minorities. Furthermore, the Electoral College helps maintain a united country by requiring widespread popular support of a candidate in order for him or her to become president.
The Electoral College was first established in the Constitutional Convention of 1787 by the founding fathers as a compromise between the election of the president by a popular vote of qualified citizens and a vote in Congress. The Electoral College was established because the founding fathers did not trust he people in making the right choice. The Electoral College consists of 538 electors who cast their votes in order to elect the President and Vice-President of the United States, however a majority of 270 votes is required to win. As of today, each state currently has members ranging from 3 to 55 members per state. When ordinary people vote for a president, they are not voting for their president, but rather for the presidential electors.
The Electoral College has been instituted since 1787 and is a group of people that elect the United State President and Vice President. The United States citizens do not directly vote for the president, but their vote is considered by electors that have pledged to vote for the winning candidate. There are 538 electors which corresponds with the 100 senators and the 435 representatives plus 3 electors for the District of Columbia. An elector is nominated or appointed by their state’s party and are usually well connected. Congressmen and high ranking U.S. officials are prohibited from being electors. In most states they follow a “Winner takes all” format, where the elector votes for the candidate who wins the popular vote. The Electoral College systems is outdated and illogical for the present and should be abolished.
The Electoral College was created in the late eighteenth century and its complex process is outlined in the United States Constitution; more specifically, the Twelfth Amendment. The system is comprised of 538 electors, and to win the presidency, a candidate must obtain 270 votes. In the event no candidate receives the required number of votes, the election is redirected to the House of Representatives where they vote on the three candidates who
When the Constitutional Convention gathered in 1784 they had the difficult task of determining how our government should be assembled and what systems we should use to elect them. They quickly decided congress should have the powers to pass laws and the people should elect these people to ensure they are following the will of the people. But who should elect the president?
The electoral college is the system constructed to select the president of the U.S. The founding fathers established this process as a compromise between the popular vote and the states. Electoral College consists of 538 electors (Eric). The majority of 270 out of the 538 electoral votes are required for the running candidate to win the presidency (History staff). As dictated by the 23rd Amendment (National archive), the District of Columbia has 3 votes and California with 55 votes has the most between the states, each state has at least 3 votes no matter what the population is. One of the issues seen in the electoral college is the fact that the candidate with the popular vote does not always win the presidency (Eric). For example, in 2016
The electoral college is a process we have used since 1804 when the 12th amendment was passed. This process was used so that we would not have to use the popular vote because it gave an unfair advantage to the bigger more populated states. For a candidate to become President of the United States, he or she must be able to attain 270 electoral votes to become president-elect. Currently there are 538 members of the electoral college. These people will gather together in their states to vote for the next president of the United States. The electoral college is very important in the election process, it gives smaller states a voice in the election, as well gives the power of the election to the states.
The Electoral College dates back to the very founding of America and American politics. The way to elect the President was a hotly contested issue at the Constitutional Convention. Many options were considered, including selection by Congress, selection by state governors, selection by state legislatures, and direct popular vote (Electoral College 6). The final decision of the Founding Fathers was written in Article II, Sections II and III of the US Constitution:
At the Constitutional Convention of 1787, the Founding Fathers could not decide if the president should be elected by Congress or elected by a popular vote, so they decided to create the Electoral College (“US Electoral College”). The Founding Fathers did not trust the people to vote on the right presidential candidate, so they decided that an indirect election was the best method (Becker). The Electoral College is a group of individuals who elect the president and vice president in the United States of America (TED-Ed). The number of electors that are given to each state is stated in Article II,
The Electoral College has been a system that the United States of America keeps in use since the constitution has first been in place in 1787. Now that times have changed how presidents can display them self publically with media, internet and travel from place to place in a few hours, it has led the question if the Electoral College is still the most unique way to elect a new president. The drawbacks of having the Electoral College are as notable as other methods, due to the voting system not being unified creates another issue that raises questions of what could be the best way to vote for a candidate equally for each state. The result of this explanation of each method will result to appointing the instant runoff voting method to be
Election Day is here! America is ecstatic to have the right to vote for what they believe in. Yet there is a 20 percent voter turnout? .300 trillion people residing in the country and only a fraction a million show up? America has fought so hard to protect the rights of the people only to have not participated. The Electoral College is an important role in the election of president. The president has so many role to take on and it is 300 billion people responsible to put the right man in office. That is extremely impertinent on grounds that American will not even show up. The Electoral College is a fair and equitable way to elect the president because it will protect America from no shows, allows small state to have a voice, and because society
In presidential elections, citizens do not actually vote for the candidate of their choosing, instead citizens are voting for electors known as the Electoral College. The Electoral College chooses a President, and Vice President. The Constitution gives each state a number of electors that equals the number of House of Representatives and Senate, which totals five hundred and thirty eight and also includes three electors for the District of Columbia. Each state receives a certain number of electors based on population size. The results in a state determine which electors are chosen. All electoral votes in a state go to the candidate that gets the most votes, and after state elections appointed officials certify the popular vote of each state. Two hundred and seventy votes are needed to elect a President; the candidate with the majority of the votes becomes the president.
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.”
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
When Americans vote for president, they are actually voting for presidential electors, who are known as a whole to be the electoral college. These electors, who are elected by citizens of the United States, are the ones that elect the chief executive. The electoral college has shaped the past, present, and future of the United States ever since it was constructed by the Constitutional Convention of 1787. The electoral college was created with fair and good intentions.