I'm Baaaack! - This Time, The Electoral College!

Good day, friends and family!

Well, it's been three years and a bit over a month since my last post. Unfortunately, things got away from me, but I'm back now. I'll get back to Simply Me soon, but today, I want to address something that is in the news cycle right now: the Electoral College.

Since the founding of our Republic, we have heard rumblings from one political group or another about eliminating the Electoral College. Their reasons have been everything from, "the Electoral College propped up slavery," to, "the Electoral College diminishes the power of the individual vote in more populous states." Since the 2016 Presidential election, those voices have become more wide-spread, especially in the last few weeks as politicians have begun to declare their candidacy for the 2020 election. This is why I felt it is time to have a discussion about the Electoral College. I'll try to keep it as short as possible, but it IS going to be a long one, so please bear with me.

BACKGROUND

The Electoral College is established in Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution of the United States. It 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." As you can see, from the start, it was intended that the States would individually decide how the Electors were chosen. The Founders made several assumptions when they established the Electoral College, chief among these that individual Electors would be elected by the voters on a district-by-district basis, allowing for the widest electorate allowed in each State; and that each individual would, "exercise independent judgment when voting, deliberating with the most complete information available in a system that over time, tended to bring about a good administration of the laws passed by Congress." (1) It was also believed that this would enable the choice of the President to reflect the “sense of the people” at a particular time, not the dictates of organized factions, a cabal in a “pre-established body” such as Congress or the State legislatures, and independent of the influence of “foreign powers”. (1) The Founders also believed that "a small number of persons, selected by their fellow-citizens from the general mass, will be most likely to possess the information and discernment requisite to such complicated [tasks]," (1) as well as preventing someone with a talent for "low intrigue, and the little arts of popularity" (1) attaining office in spite of having no other qualifications.

Unfortunately, this didn't last long. Starting with the election of 1796, two political parties had emerged: the Federalist Party, backing John Adams, and the Democratic-Republican Party, backing Thomas Jefferson. Then, the original Electoral plan of having the runner up in the Presidential election being selected to be Vice President fell apart in the 1800 election when Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr tied in Electoral votes. This required the election of the President and Vice President to be decided by the House of Representatives. The Federalist Party was upset at being shut out of the Presidency this election, so they decided to try to embarrass Jefferson by electing Burr. The House was deadlocked for 35 ballots. On the 36th, Jefferson won when Alexander Hamilton, the leader of the Federalist Party, voted for Jefferson because he hated Burr's personal character more than he hated Jefferson's policies. This led to the proposal, passing, and ratification of the XIIth Amendment, which required separate ballots for President and Vice President, just in time for the 1804 election.

Over the years, the States tried different methods of selecting Electors. The Founders assumed this would take place by district, and that plan was carried out in many states until the 1880s. For example, in Massachusetts in 1820, the rule stated, "the people shall vote by ballot, on which shall be designated who is voted for as an Elector for the district." (3) In other words, the people voted for their local Elector on their ballot, whom they trusted later to cast a responsible vote for President, and not for the Presidential candidate himself.

That’s all for now. Come back tomorrow for Part 2.



Resources:

(1) Alexander Hamilton in Federalist #68

(2) James Madison in Federalist #10

(3) "Resolves of the General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts: Passed at Their Session, which Commenced on Wednesday, the Thirty First of May, and Ended on the Seventeenth of June, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Twenty. Published Agreeably to Resolve of 16th January, 1812. Boston, Russell & Gardner, for B. Russell, 1820" – via Google Books

(4) "How the Electoral College Became Winner-Take-All" - Devin McCarthy, PhD PolySci, Duke University

(5) Chief Justice Robert Jackson, Ray v. Blair, dissent, 1952

(6) "Founders Online: James Madison to George Hay, 23 August 1823". Archived from the original on May 25, 2017.

(7) “Draft of a Resolution for the Legislature of New York for the Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, [29 January 1802],” Founders Online, National Archives, version of January 18, 2019"

(8) “James Madison to Unknown, re majority governments, December 1834,” Founders Online, National Archives, version of January 18, 2019

(9) 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016

(10) "Text of Proposed Amendment on Voting". The New York Times. April 30, 1969

(11) “Jimmy Carter Letter to Congress, Jimmy Carter, March 22, 1977”
version of January 18, 2019