Electoral College

Electoral College

Electoral College
The United States Electoral College is not really a college or even a place, but rather a process which was put into place as part of the United States Constitution to compromise between election of the president by Congress and election by popular vote (NARA, 2007). There have been many discussions as to the actual benefit of the Electoral College and the Gore vs. Bush election was the best example of how inefficient this process is and that it should be eliminated from the election process. Everyone agrees that in the past it was a good thing; it helped in making the right decision when electing president. However, more people seem to be stating that the process needs to be eliminated, because in reality it does not follow what the people truly want.
Brief History
In the Federalist Papers (No. 68), Alexander Hamilton refers to the process of selecting the Executive, and refers to "the people of each State (who) shall choose a number of persons as electors," but he does not use the term "electoral college” (NARA, 2007). In the early 1800's, the term "electoral college" came into general usage as the unofficial designation for the group of citizens selected to cast votes for President and Vice President. It was first written into Federal law in 1845, and today the term appears in the Constitution in the section heading and in the text as "college of electors" (NARA, 2007).
How it works
There are 538 electors (one for each of 435 members of the House of Representatives and 100 senators; and three for District of Columbia). Depending on how many House of Representatives each state has (plus the two senators) is the number of electors the state will have. A list of possible electors is chosen by the political parties and each state has a different way of choosing electors. When it is time of elections the candidate with the most popular votes is put on the Certificate of Ascertainment by each state and the certificates are sent to the...