1. VOTING FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

2. Article II, Section 1 of the U. S
Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution states that the President will be elected as follows: “Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.”

3. The founding fathers feared putting political power in the hands of the mob.
Madison (and others) recalled a conflict in which the Athenians fought - the generals won the war but lost so many men that the surviving citizens voted to put the generals to death. When a new war began, the Athenians had no one to lead them and they were slaughtered.
That is what happens when uneducated, short-sighted, self-serving rabble have the right to vote.

4. The electors are chosen by the political parties in each state, usually at state party conventions. Representatives from the party that wins the most popular votes in the state during the election become that state's electors (except in Maine and Nebraska, where the elector’s votes can be split).

5. There is no Constitutional provision or Federal law requiring electors to vote in accordance with their States. Therefore, even if Candidate A wins the popular vote in a state, the electors can still vote for Candidate B if they choose to do so.
Though we vote for President of the U.S. every four years on the first Tuesday in November, the Electoral College does not vote until “the Monday following the second Wednesday of December.”
The President of the Senate does not open and read the results until January 6th. Technically, we don't know who wins a Presidential election until that date.

6. When the Electoral College system breaks down…

7. There were only two times in our nation’s history when the President was not selected by the Electoral College – 1800 and The House of Representatives made the decision in these two elections, as specified by the U.S. Constitution.

8. ELECTION OF 1800
During the Election of 1800 (only the nation’s third Presidential election), the election process faced its first crisis.
The process for selecting the President was slightly different at this time. According to the Constitution, each elector had two votes for President. The candidate with the most votes became President while the candidate with the second most votes became Vice President.
If there was an electoral tie, or if neither candidate received the majority of votes, the House of Representatives would vote to decide the President of the U.S. with each state getting one vote.

9. The Election of 1800 was the first election in the U. S
The Election of 1800 was the first election in the U.S. after the creation of political parties. One party featured John Adams and Charles Pinckney and a second featured Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr .

10. When the Electoral College voted, both Jefferson and Burr received 73 Electoral Votes.
IT’S A TIE

11. Everyone knew that the electors wanted Jefferson as President and Burr as Vice President, but no distinction was made at this time between voting for President and Vice President. Due to the provisions of Article II, Section 1, the vote went to the House of Representatives. The framers of the Constitution had not foreseen the creation of political parties, and therefore never considered that two members of the same party might have to face off against each other in the House of Representatives.

12. The House of Representatives cast 35 ballots over five days
The House of Representatives cast 35 ballots over five days. Jefferson and Burr tied each time.
Finally, on the 36th ballot, Jefferson was victorious; Burr became Vice President.

13. Alexander Hamilton used his influence to sway the Federalists to support Jefferson, who he thought was less dangerous to the country than was Burr. Eventually, this led to a duel between the two men, in 1804, in which Hamilton was killed.

14. The final vote that made Jefferson President belonged to James Bayard of Delaware. As the state’s only representative, he made the decision on who to vote for on his own.

15. In order to avoid future controversies over similar situations, the 12th Amendment was passed.
This allowed for different votes to be cast for President and Vice President.

16. ELECTION OF 1824
Four men, all nominally Democratic-Republicans, ran for President in 1824.
This was the first election in the U.S. where the popular vote counted towards choosing the President.

17. No candidate received the necessary electoral votes (131 out of 261) to win the election.

18. Article II, Section 1 took effect, and the top three electoral vote getters moved to the House of Representatives.

19. Henry Clay, who hated Jackson, used his influence as Speaker of the House to sway the vote to J.Q. Adams, 13 to 7 over Jackson. This became known as the corrupt bargain.
(Crawford had suffered a stroke and was no longer a viable candidate, though he still received 4 votes in the House of Representatives.)

20. This was the first, and so far only, U. S
This was the first, and so far only, U.S. Presidential Election where the candidate who received the most electoral votes did not become President.

21. The Electoral College Today
Even today arguments exist for and against continued use of the Electoral College.
As we saw in the Elections of 1800 and 1824, quirks in the system can give one person enough sway to decide an election.
What are some other arguments for and against?