What is the Electoral College?

The drafters of the Constitution wanted to make sure that only the wisest and best of men would be selected as president. To accomplish this they created a special system for selecting the president. The system is called the Electoral College.

The drafters of the Constitution wanted to select the president in a very careful and thoughtful manner. They also wanted the selection of the president to depend on the actions of the people and not any other group. They wanted to make sure the process for selecting the president could not be influenced by special interests or foreign governments.

The residents of each state choose a group of people called electors. How the electors are chosen is determined by the legislature of each state. The electors cannot be officers of the national government. The drafters of the Constitution intended for the electors to be informed, wise, and impartial.

The number of electors for each state is equal to the total number of senators and congressmen the state has in the Congress. Since each state has two senators they each receive two electors for their senators. This can be thought of as each state getting two electors for being a state. The number of congressmen each state has depends on its population, so the number of electors each state receives varies with its population. This can be thought of as each state receiving a number of electors to represent the amount of people in the state.

The electors in each state meet together and vote for the president and vice president. The Founders intended that the electors would carefully judge the qualifications of the candidates and vote for those who were truly the most qualified. This step was designed to weed out the bad candidates and insure that only the best could be president.

The votes of the electors are transmitted to Congress where they are opened and counted. The person with the most votes is the President if he has at least 50% of the votes. If no one has at least 50% of the votes then the House of Representatives chooses the president from those who have received votes. The process is the same for the vice president.

Because of how the number of electors per state is determined a candidate must have broad support among the people and broad support among the states. This prevents a few states or regions with large populations from always choosing the president. It also allows a number of states with small populations to choose a president. In the recent election, Hillary Clinton had a slight lead in the popular vote, but Donald Trump won in 30 of the 50 states. Donald Trump won the electoral vote because he had broader support across the states and only slightly less support among the people. The Electoral College system chooses the candidate who best represents the people, the states, and therefore, the entire nation.

The process of electing the president through the Electoral College has been corrupted somewhat by the two party system. Electors are now chosen by the political party that wins the popular vote in each state. The electors are then required to vote for the candidate of the party. This has removed the deliberation process that previously helped to weed out unqualified candidates. However, the electoral college still provides a safeguard against the dangers of a popular vote. States with high populations are limited in their influence, while states with low populations are still able to have a voice in the election. This protects the presidential election from the dangers of a purely democratic election process.

Published November 9, 2016