We'll send periodic reminders of what's new and what's coming. Survey Did this page answer your question? When U.S. citizens go to the polls to elect a president, they are in fact voting for a particular slate of electors. A compromise between popular vote and Congressional vote. Having this compromised approach to electing the President was one way to do that. But the Framers created the electoral college as a compromise between election of the president and vice-president by representatives of each state (i.e., by Congress) and election by popular vote . First, at the very core of the Framers' Constitution is the recognition that, in a self-governing society, courts must generally defer to the preferences of the majority. (The District of Columbia has three electoral votes, which is the number of senators and representatives it would have if it were permitted representation in Congress.) In the end, the framers of the Constitution decided on a unique, if not confusing, system: the Electoral College. The delegates wrestled with issues such as these over a period of months. Should the Electoral College be preserved or replaced? William P. Marshall isthe William Rand Kenan Jr. For the past half-century, however, conservatives have argued that the Supreme Court has gone too far in its efforts to preserve the vitality of self-governance and protect the rights of those most in need of judicial attention. That was one objection, but there was another one that was more important. a. I think the Electoral College is a good way of ensuring each voter is represented equally. The parties would have the incentive to attract voters throughout the country, which is now a matter of complete indifference to them. Thus, it is possible (as in 2016) a presidential candidate may garner nationwide the most votes and not win the presidency. Using Disparate Impact to Restore Housing Affordability and Property Rights in Colorado, Amendment 69: What You Need to Know About the "ColoradoCare" Single-Payer Health Care Measure. Passing a constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds majority vote in the House of Representatives and in the Senate plus the approval of three-quarters of the states, or a constitutional convention called by two-thirds of state legislatures (which has never happened). Although courts may always review governmental action to guard against the arbitrary or unreasonable, the starting point must be a presumption of judicial modesty. These numbers can change every 10 years, based on the results of the census. However, the popular vote doesn't directly elect any candidate. A candidate must receive a majority of electoral votes to be elected president. One Founding-era argument for the Electoral College stemmed from the fact that ordinary Americans across a vast continent would lack sufficient information to choose directly and intelligently. Two eventually cast ballots for Clinton under court order, while onenow a party to court proceedingsopted for Ohio Governor John Kasich, a Republican. To receive Stanford news daily, Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina. Since the nations founding, hundreds of proposals to reform or eliminate the Electoral College have aimed to change how Americans elect a president. Answer: he Electoral College was created by the framers of the U.S. Constitution as an alternative to electing the president by popular vote or by Congress. Noting that the right to procreate is one of the basic civil rights of man, the Court held that government action that substantially restricts the exercise of such a right must be subjected to heightened scrutiny to ensure that the limitation on the right is truly necessary. So, then if both the Democrats and Republicans had been adversely affected, I thought we might have a situation where the two parties would be willing to recognize the flaws in the Electoral College and think seriously about jointly supporting a national popular vote. Electoral College proponents warn that abolishing it would make US presidential elections extremely expensive than they are today, heightening what some perceive as Americas campaign finance trouble. The Electoral College vote sees the, To Guarantee the Rights of the Minority so that the Principle of Equal Protection Lasts, One of the critical roles of the Electoral College is that it ensures the best, To Eliminate the Need for a 50% Vote Majority to Create an Electoral Majority, This was the case in the 2016 presidential election where, Also worth noting is that there were some, Bill Clinton was the main beneficiary of the Electoral College on both occasions. Why Did the Framers Create the Electoral College?1st in a Series November 26, 2017 Rob Natelson 0 comments Colorado went Democrat in the last presidential election. Why did the Framers create the Electoral College? A new joint report from the Natural Capital Project and the World Bank offers insight into how countries can optimize use of their natural resources in ways that balance both environmental and economic goals. First, at the very core of the Framers Constitution is the recognition that, in a self-governing society, courts must generally defer to the preferences of the majority. Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription. Once were past the primaries, presidential campaigns are wholly preoccupied with the relatively small number of states that are actually competitive. When They Start Throwing Blacks Law Dictionary at YouDuck! Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. The first purpose was to create a buffer between the population and the selection of a President. The second as part of the structure of the government that gave extra power to the smaller states. Perhaps recognizing that a theory of unbounded judicial restraint is constitutionally irresponsible, political conservatives next came up with the theory of originalism. First popularized by Robert Bork, Edwin Meese, and Antonin Scalia in the 1980s, originalism presumes that courts should exercise judicial restraint unless the original meaning of the text clearly mandates a more activist approach. For an election outcome to qualify for an automatic recount, the difference between the two candidates must be 0.5% and below. A common blood condition associated with several diseases may have a protective effect against Alzheimer's disease, Stanford Medicine research finds. Abiding by the Electoral College allows for the use of elector voters as should be the case rather than depending on tallying individual votes. From hair trends to relationship advice, our daily newsletter has everything you need to sound like a person whos on TikTok, even if you arent. Q: Is the development of offshore wind energy farms in the U.S. killing whales? This is not to say, however, that the views of the Framers are irrelevant. Theres nothing special about them except that their populations happen to be fairly evenly divided from a sociological standpoint. A: The framers of the Constitution didnt trust direct democracy. Even though it restrains the popular vote majority from having ultimate control over the results of an election, the candidate declared the winner must gather a minimum of 270 electoral votes to win the White House race. There are a handful of reasons why the framers opted for the Electoral College, from the purely logistical to the highly partisan. In this eLesson, learn more about how the Electoral College functions and why the Framers thought it was a good idea. isthe Edward H. Levi Distinguished Service Professor of Law at the University of Chicago. With votes so close in several swing states, and the winner of those states popular vote gaining all of its electoral votes, even a handful of votes could make a huge (4 years!!) As CGP Grey pointed out in his video The Trouble With The Electoral College, the fastest way to send information was to write it down on a piece of paper, hand it to a guy on a horse, wish him godspeed good sir, and hope he didnt get killed by Indians or die of dysentery along the way. With the young United States being so large, time was needed to transmit the election results from the farthest flung parts of the country to the capital. Should the state legislatures choose the executive? This scenario has played out three times in . Why did the Framers create the Electoral College? Someone elected by Congress may well feel beholden to Congress. What is wrong with the electoral college? American constitutional law has long followed the path set by Chief Justice Marshall. State laws differ on how electors are chosen. Originalism, however, is fundamentally flawed. My big hope in 2004 was that John Kerry would have carried Ohio, where a swing of 80,000 votes or so would have done the trick, and with it the election. The author, Carl Rafoth, is an attorney with the Canfield-based law firm of Friedman & Rummell. Today, I want to explore why the founders set up the Electoral College. Second, the electors would be: the men most capable of analyzing the qualities adopted to the station and acting under circumstances favorable to deliberation, and to a judicious combination of all the reasons and inducements which were proper to govern their choice.. (The District of Columbia has three electoral votes, which is the number of senators and representatives it would have if it were permitted representation in Congress.) The framers of the United States Constitution established a compromise in the supreme law when laying the foundation of their new country. electoral college device, however, was created as a compromise to deal with population differences, not because most of the Framers were convinced that the people would be swayed by a demagogue and cast their votes for a person of poor character. Outside of her professional life, Alicia is a dedicated volunteer for a local animal shelter and a passionate supporter of environmental conservation initiatives. If not, do you think it is important that each vote persons vote count equally? Instead of producing clear winners as the Framers hoped, the Electoral College has proved to be . Office of the Federal Register, U.S. National Archives and Records Administration Web site, FAQ, 11 Feb. 2008. Our constitutional framers would have declared him unfit to be president. What are some of the common criticisms of the Electoral College? The Electoral College vote sees the election of the President and the Vice President for a four-year term. They have very little knowledge of the candidates personal qualities. The committee consisted of some of the most brilliant men from a brilliant convention. You can be a part of this exciting work by making a donation to The Bill of Rights Institute today! The President of the United States is not chosen through a national popular vote because the framers of the Constitution adopted the Electoral College, which gives each state as many votes as it has members of Congress. It requires restraint, wisdom, empathy, intelligence, and courage. The best answer, grounded in the vision of the Framers and in the wisdom of John Marshall, has a long and honorable tradition in American constitutional law. 1. U.S. government employees within the executive branch play a variety of critical roles, such as issuing passports, maintaining public lands, printing money, monitoring the economy, and supporting health programs. What is the Electoral College and how does it work? The most effective way to secure a freer America with more opportunity for all is through engaging, educating, and empowering our youth. For instance, if youre a Democrat candidate running for the presidency, you dont have to deplete your resources on states that are traditionally Republican and vice versa. However, it is important for the executive to remain independent of Congressotherwise our system would evolve into something like a parliamentary one rather than a government of three equal branches. That is central to any theory of principled constitutionalism. * Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts suggested election by the state governors. Answer (1 of 13): By early 1787, George Washington, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton had begun to believe their their experiment in democracy was on the verge of collapse. People who want to abolish the Electoral College usually are unfamiliar with how perplexing the issue wasand still is. Since the U.S. strove to be a republic, governed by federalism, the framers had to come up with a way to balance the power of small and large states. It is best characterized as conservative activism. Justices who readily dismiss constitutional claims by women, political dissenters, and racial, ethnic, and religious minorities, but at the same time aggressively strike down affirmative action programs, restrictions on corporate political expenditures, regulations of commercial advertising, federal civil rights laws prohibiting age discrimination and domestic violence, and the laws of the state of Florida in the 2000 presidential election, are unmistakably using the power of judicial review in a highly selective and politicized manner that cannot credibly be justified by any principled theory of constitutional interpretation. Today, 538 electors constitute the Electoral College. Alicia is a keen writer and consultant for ConstitutionUS.com, creating engaging content that demystifies complex constitutional concepts for a wide audience. Why did the Framers create the Electoral College? Accessed at the University of Virginia Department of American Studies Web site. Why does the United States have an Electoral College when it would be so easy to directly elect a president, as we do for all the other political offices? The Bill of Rights. Not at all Slightly Copyright 1996-2023 The Pew Charitable Trusts. They sought not only to address the specific challenges facing the nation during their lifetimes, but to establish the foundational principles that would sustain and guide the new nation into an uncertain future. The Electoral College provided a compromise option that restrained the election of a president by nationwide vote or appointment by Congress. * Voters in large states might dominate the process by voting only for candidate from their own states. Probably the best defense for the Electoral College is simply that information in the late 18th Century moved really slowly. The determination of electors for each state is based on how many members of Congress represent the state a combination of the total of House members plus two Senators for each. No other form of electing a national head of state is best suited to prevent as de Tocqueville put it "the tyranny of the majority." Those who urge elimination of the Electoral College should be reminded that only once in the last 116 years (before 2016) has the presidential candidate won the majority vote and lost the Electoral College vote. One of the critical roles of the Electoral College is that it ensures the best interests of the minority groups are safeguarded in every election. By TOM KRISHER AP Auto Writer DETROIT (AP) A key U.S. automotive industry organization says it will set performance standards for Teslas electric vehicle charging cords in another move toward using the Tesla plug on all EVs.
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