OVERVIEW
The Electoral College is a uniquely American system of electing the President and Vice President of the United States not unlike the “Roman Catholic Church of the College of Cardinals” that selects the Pope . In this system, voters do not directly vote for the candidate on the ballot, but vote for their candidate’s group of state Electors. This slate of electors is tasked with directly voting for their candidate in the Electoral College – one vote for the President and another for the Vice-President. There is typically a slate of party electors in each state, and depending on which party receives a state’s majority vote, that party’s state Electors are elected and cast their ballots for their party’s candidate. Established by Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution, and modified in the 12th and 23rd amendments; The Electoral College consists of an Elector for each US Senator and Representative, plus 3 for the District of Columbia, with a total of 538 Electors . Each state independently governs how their electors are selected, and most states – except Maine and Nebraska who employ proportional representation - operate on a “winner-take-all” system wherein all electors are awarded to the winner of the popular vote . Ultimately, the candidate who wins the majority number of Electoral College votes – 270 is the target number – wins the election and takes office.
BACKGROUND
William Kimberling explains that “[direct] election was rejected not because the Framers of the Constitution doubted public intelligence but rather because they feared that without sufficient information about candidates from outside their State, people would naturally vote for a ‘favorite son’ from their own State or region” . The goal, ultimately, was to avoid larger and more populous states determining elections “with little regard for the smaller ones” . As noted, each state is allocated the same number of Electors as they have US Senators and Representatives to accurately reflect the state’s population; to control for the ever-changing population, the number of Electors changes with the each “decennial census” . As a result, the most populous states (New York, California, etc.) have the largest number of Electors, while least populous states (Wyoming, Vermont, etc.) have the least Electors.
Following the General Election the 2016 election timeline will be as follows: by December 13, all vote controversies must be resolved to presume validity when presented to Congress; by December 19, 2016 each state’s governor submits the Certificates of Ascertainment to the Archivist; on December 19, the Electors vote and all votes must be received by December 28; on January 6, 2017, “Congress meets in joint session to count the electoral votes” with the Vice President presiding over the count and announcing the results; the new president will be inaugurated on January 20 .
COMPARISONS
This system contrasts heavily with the US’ northern neighbour, Canada, wherein a single-member plurality system is employed. In this system, in “every electoral district, the candidate with the highest number of votes wins a seats in the House of Commons and represents that electoral district as its member of Parliament” . Each district candidate elected represents a vote for that party’s Prime Ministerial candidate. The party with the most members of Parliament elected wins the election and their candidate becomes the country’s Prime Minister – directly relating the Prime Minister’s power to the composition of Parliament.
References
Elections Canada. (2016, January 01). The Electoral System of Canada. Retrieved from Elections Canada: http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?dir=ces&document=part1&lang=e§ion=res
Kimberling, W. C. (1992, May 01). The Electoral College. Retrieved from Federal Election Commission: http://www.fec.gov/pdf/eleccoll.pdf
National Archives and Records Administration. (2016, January 01). The 2016 Presidential Election. Retrieved from National Archives and Records Administration: http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/key-dates.html
National Archives and Records Administration. (2016, January 01). What is the Electoral College? Retrieved from National Archives and Records Administration: http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/about.html
National Conference of State Legislatures. (2013, August 27). The Electoral College. Retrieved from National Conference of State Legislatures: http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/the-electoral-college.aspx
United States House of Representatives. (2016, January 01). Electoral College Fast Facts. Retrieved from History, Art & Archives: http://history.house.gov/Institution/Electoral-College/Electoral-College/
