The Electoral College is the process in which each state selects or votes on a group of electors from each political party. The electors with the most votes are then the ones chosen by the state for the presidential campaign. This process is conducted differently than just normally voting for a presidential candidate directly by the people. It’s what occurs before people can directly vote for a candidate to be president. Each state gets a number of votes solely based on the number of senators they have and the number of seats in the House of Representatives which is different for each state because it’s based on their population. The Founding Fathers’ came to an agreement on this so that each state was represented fairly.
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.”
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
The electoral college, per Wikipedia, is a mechanism set up to select the president and vice president of the United States. (The Electoral college, 2016) It was during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 that the founders established Article 2. Article 2 Section 1 details the innerworkings of the executive branch of government. The constitution states, “Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress”. (The Constitution of the United States, n.d.) The framers of the Constitution had many different ideas about how the selection of our president should go but ultimately
The idea behind the Electoral College was to have “electors” that could not be a member of Congress, vote for the President. The final plan, after two were voted down, was to have the electors selected by each state's legislatures. It was agreed that each state’s electors would be the total of the states representatives and senators.( Electoral 256). The process for electing the President of the United States had been determined.(Pierce 44).
The Electoral College is made up of 538 Electors. This number is an addition of 435 Representatives, 100 Senators and 3 District of Columbia electors. Every four years, the election is reborn, and citizens across the nation begin voting for their desired candidate. In all but two states, Nebraska and Maine, the majority votes win that states electoral vote. As for those two states, the votes are determined by proportional representation. The top voter in those two states receives two votes for their Senators. The rest of the votes are allocated by congressional district. What does this do? This gives the candidates an opportunity to gain votes from these to states instead of the winner-take-all that happens in the other 48 states. Finally, the selection of the electoral college differs from state to state. The majority of Electors are nominated by political parties at their conventions. Other times, the Party’s central committee casts a vote. These electors are either state elected officials, party leaders, or people with a strong affiliation with presidential candidates (What Is the Electoral College? How It Works and Why It Matters,
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 is the United States' archaic process of electing presidents. It was established in the Constitution as a compromise between election by Congress and election by popular vote. Each state is given a specific number of electors based on the number of its U.S. Representatives and Senators (NARA). This allows for over-representation of small states and under-representation of large states, while the winner-takes-all format followed by most states could result in a candidate winning the popular vote but losing the election (NARA). This has actually happened on four separate occasions, leaving four black marks on the nation's history (NARA). Despite these mishaps and constant calls for reform, the faulty system remains in
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 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
In 1787, the forebears conjured up the Constitution because they did not want to allow citizens to vote for their president undeviatingly . Afraid that society was not well equipped with information to select a president and that formidable common people would choose candidates from their own state, the forebearers considered that the president should be chosen through a selected group of electors, which they thought should be avowed as they contented. In this, political parties because very tenacious than they were before. These political group selected candidates and electors for the presidential and vice presidential positions. Electors were sworn to vote for their respected candidate. What is this Electoral College? The Electoral College
The office of the President of the United States is designed differently than many other nations “rulers”, however, it is quite similar to the government in Mexico. In the United States, the President has to go through a selection process to become the candidate of their chosen party. The registered voters in America select a party to vote for and vote for that party’s nominee. The nominee then campaigns for the general election, where the registered voters vote for Electoral College votes to elect the next president. The winner is the President with the most Electoral College votes (even if they do not win the popular vote) (Ellis 25-71). Similarly, to electing the President of the United States, the process to elect the president of Mexico
The Electoral College is a group of people that elect the president and the vice president of the United States and to win the presidency a candidate needs at least 270 electoral votes within 538 electoral votes. When you cast your vote, instead of voting for the president, you vote for the Electoral College, they are the one that electing a chief executive. The Electoral College has to vote for the candidate that wins the popular vote. They swore to vote for the candidate who wins the popular vote because they don’t let the candidate win by the popular vote, in order to avoid any kind of collusion.whithin the 50 states, Nebraska and Maine only that allow splitting the vote upon on the popular vote within congressional districts. It is totally
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
Electoral College is a block, or weighed, voting system that is designed to give more power to the states with more votes, but allows for small states to swing an election, as happened in 1876. Under this system, each state is assigned a specific number of votes that is proportional to its population, so that each state's power is representative of its population. So, while winning the popular vote may not ensure a candidate's victory, a candidate must gain popular support of a particular state to win the votes in that state. The goal of any candidate is to put together the right combination of states that will give him or her 270 electoral votes.
The Electoral College is the process in which electors vote for the president of the United States.