Electoral College Essay, Research Paper

ELECTORAL COLLEGE

Electoral College, the constitutional system for the ELECTION of the PRESIDENT and VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. It is the collective name for a group of electors, nominated by political parties within the states and popularly elected, who meet to vote for those two offices.

Each party within a state selects a slate of electors numerically equal to the state’s congressional delegation–representatives plus senators. The electors normally pledge to vote for the nominees of their party, but they are not constitutionally required to do so. When the American people vote for president and vice president, they are actually voting for slates of electors pledged to their candidates. Because the electors usually are chosen at large, the electoral vote of each state is cast as a unit, and the victorious presidential and vice presidential nominees in each state win the state’s entire electoral vote. The candidates receiving a majority of the total electoral vote in the United States are elected.

The electoral college system was established in Article II, section I, of the U. S. CONSTITUTION and has been modified mainly by the 12th Amendment. Numerous plans have been proposed for eliminating or altering the electoral college, including direct election of the president and vice president by popular vote.