Torch, Spring/Summer 2008

The number of electors was determined by the total number of congressmen from the state. In most states, the state legislatures chose the electors. In effect, the party in power in those states was able to determine the slate of electors for the president. It is worth noting, however, that senators were to be selected by state legislatures at this time as well, and so this process was not entirely unique. Once convened, the Electoral College was to vote on whom should be president. Each elector was allowed to cast two votes. The person receiving the most votes became president, and the person receiving the second most votes became vice president. George Washington was elected easily to his two terms and could have served a third if he had been willing. When the country came to the 1800 election, however, a problem in the Electoral College system surfaced. The nation had become polarized by this time into two political factions — the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans. The Democratic-Republicans in Congress met together in what was called a “caucus” to decide who to support for the presidency. Based on their conclusion, the electors decided to cast one of their votes for Thomas Jefferson, whom they wanted to be president, and one of their votes for Aaron Burr, whom they wanted to be vice president. In the end, both men received 73 votes. That was a majority vote, so the vote went to the House of Representatives, where it took 36 ballots to decide that Jefferson would be president. Following this election, the Constitution was amended and the system changed to have separate balloting for president and vice president. The process changed again in the 1828 election. Andrew Jackson believed he had been deprived of the presidency in 1824 through political chicanery and desperately wanted revenge. He appealed directly to the American people in his campaign and sought to foster a more democratic and less republican system. He was successful both in obtaining the presidency and changing the system. While the movement was already underway by this point, more and more states began to hold popular elections to determine how their electoral votes would be cast. State legislatures still have the constitutional authority to decide how electors to the Electoral College are selected, but the vast majority of states today use a winner-take-all method. Whichever candidate wins the popular vote in the state receives all of its electoral votes. How Far We’ve Come As a result, some have questioned whether the system should be maintained. The debate rages because voters in low population states end up Spring–Summer 2008 15