The Electoral College Essay, Research Paper

The History of the Electoral College

The electoral college was developed by the framers of the constitution. This proved to be more

difficult than they anticipated. The founding fathers faced the difficult question of how to elect a

president in a nation that: was composed of thirteen large and small states, contained only

4,000,000 people spread up and down the Atlantic seaboard barely connected by transportaion so

national campag

They were not willing to give the choice of president to the average citizen. Instead, they divised

a group of select citizens called electors-the Electoral College-should decide the president.

Candidate that received the highest number of votes would become president. The one with the

next highest votes would become vice president. In 1800 when Aaron Burr and Thomas Jefferson

reviced the same number of electoral votes the system had to be changed. Each elector was now

to vote for one person for president and one person for vice president