Case Study: Electoral College

Caption: Electoral College Map as of the 2020 Census 

Case Study: Electoral College 

Every four years, Americans head to the polls to cast their vote for president. When they vote, they are not directly voting for their candidate of choice. Instead, they cast a vote for the slate of electors of the party they want to win. This process is known as the Electoral College. The Electoral College process includes the selection of electors, the meeting and voting of chosen electors, and tabulating the electoral vote count by Congress.

Article II of the Constitution lays out the system in which each state government creates a system for how electors are selected. (Every state currently has a system under which the people vote to select them.) Each state’s number of electors is equal to its total number of senators and members of the House of Representatives. This ranges from Wyoming, which has three electors, to California, which has 54 electors. Counting the three electors for the District of Columbia, there are a total of 538 electoral votes available. Almost every state has a “winner take all” system (except for Nebraska and Maine) under which the candidate who wins the popular vote in the state sends a slate of electors to vote for him or her. The electors meet in December to cast their votes for their candidate of choice. A candidate must win at least 270 electoral votes in order to become president. After the electors vote, the results are sent to Congress, which counts the vote to certify the election.

The Electoral College system was designed to uphold the principle of federalism by allowing state governments to play a role in the election of the president. The system has been used to choose the country’s executive for more than two centuries, although there have been some notable controversial elections.

 

Election of 1800  

Under the original Electoral College system established by the Constitution, each elector cast two votes—one for president and one for vice president. However, no distinction was made between the two offices. Thomas Jefferson ran for president as a Republican in the election of 1800 with Aaron Burr as his vice presidential running mate. However, each candidate  received the same number of electoral votes. (Their party’s electors failed to coordinate to make sure that Jefferson finished with at least one vote more than Burr.) Burr refused to concede the election and take the vice  presidency.

The Constitution states when no candidate has a majority of the electoral vote, the House of Representatives votes by state to decide the election. The winner needs to gain a majority of states (each state receives a single vote). The House voted 35 times, but still no candidate was selected. Finally, Alexander Hamilton—who vehemently opposed Jefferson—coordinated with his Federalist allies in the House. Hamilton decided that between Jefferson and Burr, the former was the lesser of two evils, and he was able to convince his fellow party members to give Jefferson the presidency.

The Election of 1800 revealed a serious flaw in the presidential election process. Soon after, the states ratified the Twelfth Amendment, which altered Article II of the Constitution by requiring that electors cast a distinct vote for president and a distinct vote for vice president. This revised process ensured the chaos of the 1800 election would not happen again.

 

Election of 1824 

Four candidates ran for president in 1824—Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, and William H. Crawford. Jackson won a plurality of the electoral votes but not a majority as required by the Constitution to win the election. Therefore, the election was once again sent to the House of Representatives to be determined in a constitutional process in which each state would have one vote. The Constitution states the top three candidates are to be considered by the House, therefore eliminating Clay from the election. However, he served as the Speaker of the House at the time and had enormous influence on the outcome. The House ultimately selected Adams, who then appointed Clay to be his secretary of state. Jackson criticized the outcome, arguing that a “corrupt bargain” between Clay and Adams prevented him from being elected, despite winning more electoral votes and a greater share of the popular vote. However, the system worked as it should according to the Constitution.

 

Election of 2000 

In the election of 2000, Republican candidate George W. Bush ran against Democrat Al Gore. The election was hotly contested and incredibly close. By the end of election night, it appeared Bush would win. Gore conceded the election that night, but soon after, further results showed him to be closer to victory than he thought. He redacted his concession as it became clear that the national election results would be determined by the vote in Florida. The results there were close as initial counts showed Bush won by a mere 327 votes of the six million cast. During the recount process, controversies emerged as officials needed to determine voter intent for punch card-type ballots in certain counties that did not have a full punch through next to the candidate of choice. Bush still held a miniscule lead after the recounts, but legal battles continued over a month after the election. Finally, in the case of Bush v. Gore, the Supreme Court determined the recount process needed to come to an end. The 5-4 majority ruled the procedures used in Florida were not uniform and therefore violated the Constitution. The Court determined a new, constitutional method could not be created and carried out in time before the electors needed to convene to vote. As a result, Bush won the Electoral College vote and the 2000 election.