How to Pick a President

The Constitution of the United States

The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term of four years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same term, be elected, as follows:

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: but no Senator or Representative, or person holding an office of trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed an elector.

4 Aspects of the Original Electoral College

• Electors would vote for two persons (at least one of whom had to be from outside the elector’s home state).
• Electors did not differentiate between the two persons as potential presidents or vice presidents. The person gaining the most votes (if a majority) would become president. The runner-up (presumably the second-most-qualified person) would become vice president.

4 Aspects of the Original Electoral College

• Electors would often fail to reach majority approval of a specific candidate; in that case, the decision would be made by the House of Representatives, with each state’s delegation having one vote. The Constitution also provided that the House would choose in case of a tie vote between two candidates each of whom had received a majority of votes.

4 Aspects of the Original Electoral College

• Because the Constitution, until amended in 1933, provided that newly elected representatives would meet for the first time only a full year after election, the choice would be made by a House that would likely include a number of “lame-ducks,” including representatives who had been defeated in the recent elections.

Purpose of the Electoral College

• The framers of the Constitution feared direct democracy; a college of selected citizens was better suited that the masses to select the president.
• Wanted to protect the interests of smaller states and rural areas (if election was just a popular vote, candidates would likely focus on large population areas)

The 1800 Election

What Happened in 1800?

• First time that an incumbent leader was defeated in an election
• Incumbent was John Adams, who had been Washington’s Vice President for two terms and was then elected in his own right in 1796 (his VP was Thomas Jefferson)

What Happened in 1800?

• Adams (Federalist Party) vs. Jefferson (Democratic-Republican Party). Both had running mates: Charles Cotesworth Pinckney from South Carolina (Adams) and Aaron Burr of New York (Jefferson)

What Happened in 1800?

• All of the Democratic-Republican members of the Electoral College voted faithfully, casting two votes each, one for Jefferson and one for Burr. The Federalists decided not to cast their votes faithfully.

What Happened in 1800?

• By Article II, electors cast two votes for their party without specifying one as being for the president and the other for the vice president. Because of this, Jefferson and Burr received exactly the same number of electoral votes and the election was a tie.

What Happened in 1800?

• Since there was no majority, the decision went to the House of Representatives, CONTROLLED BY THE FEDERALIST PARTY. Jefferson was clearly the Democratic-Republicans' candidate for president, the Federalist Party considered Burr to be less of an evil than Jefferson. They tried to rally support for Burr in place of Jefferson. Burr also refused to endorse Jefferson.

What Happened in 1800?

• The House struggled coming to a majority and cast 36 separate votes within one week. Though the original election was in November, the final House vote, electing Jefferson as president, did not occur until February 7, 1800. Aaron Burr was appointed as vice president.

The 12th Amendment

• This election prompted the passing of the 12th Amendment which introduced double balloting. The Electoral College now casts two separate votes, one for president and one for vice president.

The Electoral College Today

The Electoral College Today

• Composed of 538 members (100 Senators, 435 House members, and 3 representatives from DC)
• Winner-take-all system in each state except Maine and Nebraska

Elected without the Popular Vote

• John Adams 1824
• Rutherford B. Hayes 1876
• Benjamin Harrison 1888
• George W. Bush 2000

Voting Info-Graphic