Electoral College

6 Pages 1418 Words

This research paper will be informative about the Electoral College and it’s operations, historical
development, weaknesses of the system, and proposed changes. This paper will go into the
depths of how and why it is still in use to this day. The purpose is to report to the voters of this
country and to teach them the basis of our voting heritage.
The Electoral College was developed because of the problem that our founding fathers
faced on the difficult question of how to elect a president in an emerging nation. The nation was
composed of thirteen large and small states jealous of their own rights and powers and suspicious
of any central government. The U.S. contained only 4 million people spread up and down a
thousand miles of Atlantic seaboard barely connected by transportation or communication
(making national campaigns impossible). As well as our nation’s framers felt that gentlemen
should not campaign for public office ( The saying was, “The office should seek the man, the
man should not seek the office.”) (Abbott, 7)
In the operations of the electoral college in our current nation, there are 538 electoral
college voters, and a majority of 270 is needed to win the presidency.(N.A.R.A) By decision of
Congress, the electors meet to vote simultaneously in all the states, on the first Monday after the
second Wednesday in December of presidential election years. On January 6, following the
meeting of the electors, their votes are counted in the presence of a joint session of Congress. If
a candidate gets more than half the votes, he or she will become the new president. If there is no
majority, then the election goes to the House of Representatives. There each state is given one
vote where they vote on the top three candidates. If a candidate gets a majority vote, then he or
she will become president. If not, they are to continue voting until a majority is reached and the
speaker of the house w...