Electoral College to 1877

Abstract

This research paper aims to talk about Electoral College. The motive here is to critically analyze this controversial issue. The piece of study lime lights the system under which after almost two years of campaign money and hype, the voting for the presidential candidates is being done by almost 90 million Americans. Moreover, the United States President and vice president are really elected in the middle of December by the votes of only 538 citizens who are the electors of the Electoral College.

Introduction

The 200 years history of the Electoral College System has produced a number of reforms and critics that are trying to eliminate it. However, there are certain defenders of the system also that have powerful arguments in favor of the system.

The term Electoral College refers to a set of electors who are used to elect a particular candidate to a particular office. Each entity or organization is represented by giving weight to the votes in a particular way or by a particular number of electors. Generally, the electors are referred as the wise and important people who tend to provide a better choice as compared to a larger body. However, there are chances of certain problems as well in this type of voting. A difference between the general nationwide popularity and that of reflected by the electoral votes could also arise. Moreover, the constitution does not contain the term Electoral College in it, and the 12th Amendment and the Article II of the Constitution defines the term electors, but not the Electoral College. In addition to this, there are certain pros and cons of the Electoral College that cannot be underestimated. This paper aims to limelight all those important issues in later sections.

Discussion

The Electoral College consists of the electors who are responsible for electing the President and Vice President of the United States formally. These electors are appointed by each state. There have been almost 538 electors in each of the presidential elections since 1964. Moreover, the article II of the Constitution specifies that how many electors can each state is entitled to have and the way these electors are chosen is decided by the state's legislature. The United States territories are not represented by the Electoral College. Further, this system of Electoral College is an example of indirect elections. Opposite to indirect elections are the direct elections that are held by the citizens of the United States. An example of the direct elections includes the elections for the members of the United States House of Representatives. In addition to this, the District of Columbia and other voters of each state make electors the authorized constitutional participants in the presidential elections by giving votes. The early U. S. history shows that the state legislators had the choice of delegating these electors by some state laws. However, electors are free to give vote to anyone they assume eligible to become president of the country, but in practice, they are pledged to vote for specific ...