The Electoral College, Part 2

Let’s jump right back into the Electoral College…

Unfortunately, some States decided that the favorite Presidential candidate among the people in their State would have a much better chance if all of the Electors selected by their state were sure to vote the same way...a "general ticket" of electors pledged to a party candidate. (4) Thus, the Electors chosen by the state were no longer free agents, independent thinkers, or deliberative representatives. They became "voluntary party lackeys and intellectual non-entities." (5) Once one state took that strategy, the others felt compelled to follow suit in order to compete for the strongest influence on the election. (4)

When two of the most important architects of the Electoral College, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, saw the “general ticket” method of selecting Electors being implemented by some States, they protested strongly. Madison and Hamilton both made it clear that this approach violated the spirit of the Constitution. According to Hamilton, the selection of the President should be "made by men most capable of analyzing the qualities adapted to the station." (1) Hamilton also maintained that the electors were to analyze the list of potential presidents and select the best one. He also used the term "deliberate". Hamilton considered a pre-pledged Elector to violate the spirit of Article II of the Constitution insofar as such electors could make no "analysis" or "deliberate" concerning the candidates. Madison agreed completely, stating that when the Constitution was written, all of its authors assumed individual Electors would be elected in their districts and it was inconceivable a "general ticket" of Electors dictated by a State would ever replace the concept. In fact, in a letter to George Hay, Madison wrote, "The district mode was mostly, if not exclusively in view when the Constitution was framed and adopted; & was [later] exchanged for the general ticket." (6) This became known as the 'Winner-Take-All' method. The Founders assumed when they wrote Article II, Section 1, that Electors would be elected by the voters of their district and that Elector was to be free to analyze and deliberate regarding who is best suited to be President. Madison and Hamilton were so upset by what they viewed as a complete distortion of the original intent that they advocated a Constitutional Amendment to prevent anything other than the district plan: "the election of Presidential Electors by districts, is an amendment very proper to be brought forward," Madison told George Hay in 1823. (6) Hamilton went further and actually drafted an Amendment to the Constitution mandating the district plan for selecting Electors. (7)

Starting in 1789, the States used a combination of the district-based plan, the Winner-Take-All plan, and direct appointment by the State Legislatures to select their Electors. Since 1836, statewide Winner-Take-All popular voting for Electors has been the nearly universal practice. As of 2016, Maine (since 1972) and Nebraska (since 1996) use the district-based plan, with two at-large Electors assigned to support the winner of the statewide popular vote.

*WHEW!* That's a lot of background! And this was just a 'short' summary...the 'broad strokes' if you will. So, then, this brings us up to the present. Next time, we’ll address the current condition of the Electoral College.



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”