The Election of a President

Original Provisions According to the Constitution, the President and Vice President are chosen by a special body of presidential electors. Originally, these electors each cast two electoral votes, each for a different candidate. The candidate with the most votes would become President, and the candidate with the second highest total would become Vice President.

The Electoral College A group of people (electors) chosen from each State and the District of Columbia that formally selects the President and Vice President With the rise of political parties in 1796, flaws began to be seen in the system

The 1800 Election The 12th Amendment was added to the Constitution in 1804 following the election of 1800. each elector would distinctly cast one electoral vote for President and one for Vice President.

Nominating a President Primaries A delegate-selection process and/or A candidate preference election From this point, primaries can only be described on a State-by-State basis because: The fact that in each State the details of delegate-selection process are determined by that State’s own law The ongoing reform efforts in the Democratic Party (greater grassroots politics) 1968 DNC- a lot of descent within the party Vietnam Civil Rights

Nominating a President The Caucus-Convention Process Voters choose delegates to a local or district convention, at which delegates for a State convention are chosen, at which delegates for the National convention are chosen The National Convention A meeting held by the major political parties in which delegates vote to pick their Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates Major Goals of the National Convention Naming the party’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates Bringing various factions of party together in one place and unifying or uniting the party Adopting the parties platform (party’s stand on major policy matters)

Nominating a President The National Convention The First Two Days Organizing and Rousing Speeches Keynote address-Speech given at a party convention to set the tone for the convention and the campaign to come Glorifies party, its history, its leaders and its programs Condemns the opposition Predicts victory in November Write Platform “Platforms are written to be ignored and forgotten…Like Jell-O shimmering on a dessert plate, there is usually little substance and nothing you can get your teeth into.

The Election The Electoral College Each state has the same number of votes as they have representation in the House and Senate The Framers expected the electors to use their own judgment in selecting a President Today, electors really just “rubber stamp” the candidates They are expected to vote in-line with their state’s will “In short, the electors go through the form set out in the Constitution in order to meet the letter of the Constitution, but their behavior is a far cry from its original intent

The Election The Electoral College Vote for the Electors on “the Tuesday after the first Monday in November” Winner-take-all system (except Maine and Nebraska) if a candidate wins a state, he/she wins all the votes from that state The people, as a whole, really vote for electors In most states you will see the Presidential candidates name on the ballot Vote for President on the “Monday after the second Wednesday in December”

The Election The Electoral College Presidential candidate must win a majority of the electoral votes (270 out of 538) If a candidate fails to win a majority, the election is thrown into the House of Representatives Vote out of the top 3 candidates Each state gets one vote (candidate must receive 26 votes)

The Election Flaws in the Electoral College Winner of the popular vote is not guaranteed the presidency The small state benefit Wyoming Electoral representation= 165,000 California Electoral representation= 616,000 http://www.presidentelect.org/e2000.html#map Electors are not required to vote in accord with the popular vote “faithless elector”- 1796, 1820, 1948, 1956, 1960, 1968, 1972, 1976, and 1988 2000- one member from DC didn’t vote Any election might have to be decided in the House of Representatives Happened twice Could happen with a strong 3rd party candidate

The National Bonus Plan Direct Popular Election Alternative Ideas The District Plan The Proportional Plan The National Bonus Plan Direct Popular Election

The Election How do you fix the problems posed by the Electoral College: The District Plan More accurate results; get rid of winner-take-all 1960- Nixon would have become President The Proportional Plan (60% of popular vote and 10 Electoral College votes= 6 votes) get rid of winner-take-all; faithless elector 1896- W.J. Bryan would have become President despite the fact that he lost the popular vote by a significant number of votes; Small states—over-represented; encourage 3rd parties The National Bonus Plan (an additional 102 votes to the winner of the popular election) Direct Popular Election All votes would be equal Small states would be against this—lose representation