I know it is a long subject I just need to know why it ever got started in the first place afterall we can all count!?!?Www@QuestionHome@Com
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Position:Home>History> When did the electorial college get it's start and why?Question: When did the electorial college get it's start and why!? I know it is a long subject I just need to know why it ever got started in the first place afterall we can all count!?!?Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: The Electoral College is part of the US Constitution and it was written between May 25 and September 17 of 1787!. It is the system in the US where the Vice President and the President are elected and was included as part of the Virginia Plan resulting in the resulting in the Connecticut Compromise and Three-fifths compromise: where black slaves were counted as 3/5 of a person!. Their are 538 members which will be picked by the political party sometime after the political primary and prior to the convention!. Their number is based on the number of senators and representatives from each state!. When you vote for a politician to be President you are actually voting for the member of the Electoral College who will promise to vote for that person!. The idea behind the College is to protect the US government from the tyranny of the people and risk having them elect a king year after year (This would have happened with George Washington if he hadn't decided to retire)!. Members of the Electoral College are supposed to be educated and wise people who will make the best decision on behalf of their state!. If they decide to not vote for the politician that they are pledged to vote for then they are exercising their right!. This has happened a few times, but never enough to change the results of an election!. Because of this the members of the Electoral College are normally well known and reliable party members who can be trusted to do the party’s bidding!. It is an archaic method of electing a president and means that it is possible to win the popular vote and still lose the election as happened in the second election of George W!. Bush; when a politician wins a state, even if by a narrow margin they get all the Electoral College members for that state!. So if you get a narrow victory in the states with a large population then you have a better chance of winning the election!. When Presidential Election coverage is done on the news the news casters count the Electoral College members as well as the popular vote, but the popular vote doesn’t really matter!. The Electoral College is independent from the Primary Races and the Democratic Parties method of Super Delegates!. It is ONLY used to elect the President and the Vice President!. Originally the elections were run with the Vice President and the Presidential candidates as separate individuals so it was possible to get members from two different political parties win the election!. Tie votes are handled in Congress!. According to Wikipedia: http://en!.wikipedia!.org/wiki/Philadelphi!.!.!. "the Federal Convention, or the "Grand Convention at Philadelphia") took place from May 25 to September 17, 1787" According to Wikipedia: http://en!.wikipedia!.org/wiki/Electorial_!.!.!. "At the Constitutional Convention, the Virginia Plan used as the basis for discussions called for the Executive to be elected by the Legislature!.!.!. Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 of 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: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector!. ” Article II, Section 1, Clause 4 of the Constitution states: “ The Congress may determine the Time of choosing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States… A faithless elector is one who casts an electoral vote for someone other than whom they have pledged to elect, or who refuses to vote for any candidate!. On 158 instances, electors have not cast their votes for the presidential or vice presidential candidate to whom they were pledged!. Of those, 71 votes were changed because the original candidate died before the elector was able to cast a vote!. Two votes were not cast at all when electors chose to abstain from casting their electoral vote for any candidate!. The remaining 85 were changed by the elector's personal interest, or perhaps by accident!. Usually, the faithless electors act alone!. An exception was in 1836, when 23 Virginia electors changed their votes together!. In that year, Martin Van Buren's vice presidential running mate, Richard Johnson, did not receive an absolute majority of electoral votes for Vice President, but ultimately won the office on the first ballot by the United States Senate in 1837… Pursuant to the Twelfth Amendment, the House of Representatives is required to go into session "immediately" to vote for President if no candidate for President receives a majority (270 votes) of the 538 possible electoral votes!."Www@QuestionHome@Com The electoral college started with the first election of George Washington!. It was because the colonists did not trust the government that much, they were suspicious after troubles with the English government!. www!.fec!.gov/pdf/eleccoll!.pdf http://www!.electoralcollegehistory!.com/ http://people!.howstuffworks!.com/electora!.!.!. rWww@QuestionHome@Com |