The document discusses the history and development of the Electoral College system for electing the US President. It explains that the Founders did not intend for citizens to directly elect the President, but rather wanted states to control the process. The Electoral College was devised as a compromise that gave states influence while avoiding direct election or election by Congress. It summarizes key elections and issues that have arisen, such as the 1800 tie and 2000 Florida recount controversy. The document also outlines the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact proposal to award states' electoral votes to the nationwide popular vote winner.

1. Does My
Vote Matter?

2. Hamilton Says:
"A fondness for power is implanted, in most
men, and it is natural to abuse it, when
acquired."*
* In “The Farmer Refuted,” 1775

3. Constitution Leadership Initiative
www.ConstitutionLeadership.org
Note: Donations to CLI are tax-deductible

4. Sources
Enlightened
Democracy,
By Tara Ross
The Evolution and
Destruction of the
Original Electoral
College,
by Gary & Carolyn
Alder
Inventing the
American
Presidency,
Thomas Cronin,
ed.
Choosing a
President: The
Electoral College
and Beyond, by
Paul D.
Schumaker &
Burdett A. Loomis
The Electoral
College Primer,
by Lawrence D.
Longley & Neal
R. Peirce

5. Surprise!!
The American people were never intended to be involved in
electing the President!
5

6. Our Presidents – 44 of Them!

7. How Do You Select A President
For The First Time?
Under the Articles of Confederation there was no
true Chief Executive
The President of Congress was an administrative
title with little authority other than to manage the
business of Congress
A true Chief Executive was needed; short of a
King, and yet more powerful than the President of
Congress

8. At The Constitutional
Convention
The Virginia Plan - National Executive to be chosen by
the National Legislature, for the term of seven years.
The South Carolina Plan: The Senate and House of
Delegates shall annually choose the President of the
United States from among themselves or the People at
large.
The New Jersey Plan: the United States in Congress
assembled be authorized to elect a federal Executive.
The “British” Plan: a Governor to serve during good
behavior and be elected by Electors chosen by the
people in the Election Districts.
8

9. Direct Election
Direct election of the President by the people was
discussed but rejected, initially.
 The people lack awareness and knowledge of potential
candidates.
 Small states would be disfavored. (Remember this!)
 Most important: Direct election would consolidate too much
power and influence in one person. (Remember this also!)
Election by the Congress was also not favored
 If Congress was allowed to elect (and re-elect) the
President, he would be beholden to the Congress and too
apt to go along with their initiatives.
If not the people, if not Congress, who’s left to
elect the President?

10. What About the States?
Small states were reluctant to give up the political
power they enjoyed under the Articles of
Confederation.
The “Grand Compromise” retained equal power in
the Senate and added proportional power in the
House
Something like the “Grand Compromise” was
needed as well for electing the President.
On Sept 4, 1787 the Committee on Detail
proposed the present Electoral College method. It
was adopted on Sept 7.

11. The Compromise
A chief executive to be elected for a term of four years and
be chosen by electors selected for that purpose.
“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.
“The Congress may determine the Time of choosing the
Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes;
which Day shall be the same throughout the United
States.”

12. Article II - Continued
“The Electors shall meet in their respective States,
and vote by Ballot for two Persons*, of whom one at
least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with
themselves.
And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted
for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List
they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the
Seat of the Government of the United States,
directed to the President of the Senate.”
* Modified by the 12th Amendment

13. Article II - Continued
“The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the
Senate and House of Representatives, open all the
Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted.
The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the
President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number
of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who
have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then
the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by
Ballot one of them for President; and if no Person have a
Majority, then from the five* highest on the List the said
House shall in like Manner chuse the President. “
* Modified by the 12th Amendment

14. The “Contingent” Election
“But in chusing the President, the Votes shall be
taken by States, the Representation from each State
having one Vote; … a Majority of all the States shall
be necessary to a Choice.
In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the
Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the
Electors shall be the Vice President.
But if there should remain two or more who have
equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them by
Ballot the Vice President.”
Note: The contingent election was seen as the likely
outcome of most elections

15. The End Result
“The President was to be, like the Senate, the
creature of the states and not of Congress”* (and
not of the people)
The states totally controlled (and still control) how
electors are selected
The electors were originally only to nominate two
people for President. The Congress would
complete the election by counting the nominations
and, if necessary settling ties or lack of a majority.
* Donald Lutz, et al, “The Electoral College in Historical and Philosophical
Perspective: in “Choosing a President”, Paul D. Schumaker, ed.

16. Hamilton Liked it
“I … hesitate not to affirm, that if the
manner of it be not perfect, it is at
least excellent.”

17. The Electoral College Worked
Well - Twice Two
terms,
then I’m
outta
here!

18. Side Note: Essays on
Presidential Elections
As a side note: the study of Presidential elections
is fascinating if you find an author willing to dig into
the political intrigue that accompanied most of
them.
Constituting America’s 90-Day Study this year was
devoted to a review of every one of the elections
we have enjoyed (or suffered, depending on your
point of view). I suggest you explore the essays
here:
http://constitutingamerica.org/docs/90DayStudyPre
sidentialElections.pdf

19. Another Side Note: Books On
Presidential Elections
Goodreads.com lists 61 books written about
presidential elections.
They discuss the results of 28 different elections.
The election of 1800 enjoys the most interest
(5 books).

20. The Election of 1789
Presidential candidate
Federalist/
Anti-Federalist*
Home state
Electoral
vote
George Washington Federalist Virginia 69
John Adams Federalist Massachusetts 34
John Jay Federalist New York 9
Robert H. Harrison Federalist Maryland 6
John Rutledge Federalist South Carolina 6
John Hancock Federalist Massachusetts 4
George Clinton Anti-Federalist New York 3
Samuel Huntington Federalist Connecticut 2
John Milton Federalist Georgia 2
James Armstrong Federalist Georgia 1
Benjamin Lincoln Federalist Massachusetts 1
Edward Telfair Anti-Federalist Georgia 1
Total 138
Needed to win 35
* Supported or rejected the Constitution
69 total electors

21. Presidential
candidate
Party Home state
Electoral
vote
George
Washington
None
Virginia
132
John Adams Federalist Massachusetts 77
George Clinton
Democratic-
Republican New York
50
Thomas Jefferson
Democratic-
Republican Virginia
4
Aaron Burr
Democratic-
Republican New York
1
Total 264
Needed to win 67132 total electors
The Election of 1792

22. Presidential candidate Party Home state
Electoral
vote
John Adams Federalist Massachusetts 71
Thomas Jefferson Democratic-Republican Virginia 68
Thomas Pinckney Federalist South Carolina 59
Aaron Burr Democratic-Republican New York 30
Samuel Adams Democratic-Republican Massachusetts 15
Oliver Ellsworth Federalist Connecticut 11
George Clinton Democratic-Republican New York 7
John Jay Federalist New York 5
James Iredell Federalist North Carolina 3
George Washington Federalist Virginia 2
John Henry Democratic-Republican Maryland 2
Samuel Johnston Federalist North Carolina 2
Charles C. Pinckney Federalist South Carolina 1
Total 276
Needed to win 70138 total electors, 71 Fed, 67 DR
The Election of 1796

23. Presidential candidate Party Home state
Electoral
vote
Thomas Jefferson
Democratic-
Republican Virginia
73
Aaron Burr
Democratic-
Republican New York
73
John Adams(incumbent) Federalist Massachusetts 65
Charles C. Pinckney Federalist South Carolina 64
John Jay Federalist New York 1
Total 276
Needed to win 70138 total electors, 73 DR, 65 Fed
The Election of 1800

24. The 1800 Contingent Election
 In the contingent election, 16 states voted,
9 votes needed to win.
 1-35th ballot:
8 Jefferson
6 Burr
2 Null (Maryland, 4-4, and Vermont, 1-1)
 36th ballot:
10 Jefferson
4 Burr
2 Null (Delaware and South Carolina)

25. 12th Amendment - 1804
The Electors shall meet in their respective states,
and vote by ballot for President and Vice-
President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an
inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they
shall name in their ballots the person voted for as
President, and in distinct ballots the person voted
for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct
lists of all persons voted for as President, and all
persons voted for as Vice-President and of the
number of votes for each, which lists they shall
sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of
the government of the United States, directed to
the President of the Senate.

26. Who Are These “Electors?”
“No Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office
of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed
an Elector.” This is the only qualification.
Pennsylvania - 2008

27. Appointing vs Electing Electors
In 1789, four of the ten states* voting used direct
appointment of electors by the state legislature.
Nine of fifteen states did so in 1792
Ten of sixteen states did so in 1800
Half the states still did so in 1812
By 1824, however, all but two states were allowing popular
election of electors (South Carolina held out until after the
Civil War)
* NC & RI were not yet states, NY didn’t choose electors in time

28. Choosing Electors Today
In 34 states, state party conventions nominate a slate
of electors.
In 10 states (plus D.C.) state party committees
nominate the party’s electors.
One state (AZ) nominates the electors in primary
elections.
The remaining 5 states use a variety of methods. PA
alone authorizes the national presidential candidates
to nominate electors for his/her party.

29. Current Electoral Vote Allocation
California 55 Wisconsin 10 Arkansas 6
Texas 38 Missouri 10 West Virginia 5
New York 29 Minnesota 10 New Mexico 5
Florida 29 Maryland 10 Nebraska 5
Pennsylvania 20 South Carolina 9 Rhode Island 4
Illinois 20 Colorado 9 New Hampshire 4
Ohio 18 Alabama 9 Maine 4
Michigan 16 Louisiana 8 Idaho 4
Georgia 16 Kentucky 8 Hawaii 4
North Carolina 15 Oregon 7 Wyoming 3
New Jersey 14 Oklahoma 7 Vermont 3
Virginia 13 Connecticut 7 South Dakota 3
Washington 12 Utah 6 North Dakota 3
Tennessee 11 Nevada 6 Montana 3
Massachusetts 11 Mississippi 6 Delaware 3
Indiana 11 Kansas 6 Alaska 3
Arizona 11 Iowa 6 District of Columbia 3 Thanks to the
23rd Amendment
538 Total
Electoral
Votes,
270 to
win!

30. What About “Faithless” Electors?
Ironically, electors who vote their consciences (as the
Framers intended) are today called “faithless.”
There have been 158 instances of “faithless” electors; none
have changed the outcome of an election.
Virginia is one of 31 states — including the District of
Columbia — with a law seeking to bind the votes of
presidential electors.
However, no “faithless” elector has ever been prosecuted for
their vote
The Supreme Court has ruled electors can be expected to
honor their pledges, but has not ruled on what happens if
they don’t.

31. From 1800 to 1996
 Most elections worked well.
With a few exceptions that we’ll explain in a
moment.

32. “Problem Elections”
 In 1800, the House of Representatives settled an electoral vote tie
by choosing Thomas Jefferson over Aaron Burr
 In 1824, the House of Representatives chose John Quincy Adams
over Andrew Jackson even though Jackson had more electoral
votes (but not a majority)
 In 1876, Rutherford B. Hayes defeated Samuel Tilden by one
electoral vote even though Tilden had 3% more popular votes.
 In 1888, Benjamin Harrison won the electoral college although
Grover Cleveland had more popular votes
 In 1912, Woodrow Wilson won the electoral college with only a
plurality of popular votes
 In 1948, Harry Truman won the electoral college with only a
plurality of popular votes

33. And Then Came 2000
Popular Vote Totals
Gore: 50,999,897
Bush: 50,456,002
Nader: 2,882,955
Others: 9,302,797
Bush: 271 ElecVotes
Gore: 266 ElecVotes
271 + 266 = 537, where’s the last vote?

34. Results In Florida
Candidate Party Votes Percentage
George Bush Republican 2,912,790 48.85%
Al Gore Democrat 2,912,253 48.84%
Ralph Nadar Green 97,488 1.63%
Pat Buchanan Reform 17,484 0.29%
Harry Browne Libertarian 16,415 0.28%
Howard Phillips Constitution 1,371 0.02%
John Hagelin Natural Law 2,281 0.04%
Others None 3,028 0.05%
 = 357

35. What About The “Spoilers?”
In two states won by Bush, Ralph Nader’s vote
total was larger than Bush’s winning margin:
 FL-25 (537 winning margin, 97,488 Nader votes),
 NH-4 (7,211 winning margin, 22,198 Nader votes)
If New Hampshire’s Nader votes had gone to Gore
instead (or even half of them), Gore would have
won the state, and the election!
(Outcome: Gore = 270, Bush = 267)

36. What About “Wasted Votes?”
All votes in excess of 50.01% of the votes cast have no effect
on the outcome.
Using this criteria, Republicans “wasted” 2,266,880 votes
Democrats “wasted” 2,176,382 votes
Bottom line: unless you can predict a majority win instead
of a plurality win, no vote is “wasted”.
But, Bush won four states (54 EC votes) with pluralities
Gore won six states (44 EC Votes) with pluralities

37. The National Popular Vote Project

38. What NPV Proposes
Modify the present “winner-take-all” rules in 48
states* to instead pledge all state electoral votes to
winner of the national popular vote.
This can be done through simple state law
changes.
No need for a Constitutional amendment.
After implementing, at some point a Constitutional
amendment would be proposed to remove the
Electoral College verbiage
* Maine and Nebraska allocate electoral votes by district

39. NPV Progress
NPV has been enacted into law in 11 states (+ D.C.)*
controlling 165 electoral votes.
It will take effect (in those states) when enacted by
states controlling 105 more votes.
The bill has passed a total of 34 state legislative
chambers in 23 states.
Recent success: 40–16 vote in the AZ House, 28–18 in
the OK Senate, and 37–21 in the OR House.
* all Blue States in 2000

40. One Problem With The NPV
“No State shall, without the Consent of
Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep
Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace,
enter into any Agreement or Compact with
another State, or with a foreign Power, or
engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in
such imminent Danger as will not admit of
delay.” Article 1, Section 10, Clause 3.

41. Another Problem
 NPV asks states to approve legislation in
which they ignore the will of the voters of
their own state and instead award electoral
votes to the winner of a national contest.
 Today, the Electoral College winner must
assemble a broad coalition of big states,
little states, urban populations and rural
populations to be successful.
 NPV will permit a concentration of support
in large urban populations to prevail.

42. In Review:
Four factors have undermined the Electoral
College
The emergence of political parties
 Electors pledged to party candidates
 Election rather than appointment of electors
“Winner-take-all” allocation of state electoral
votes
The Electoral College does not function as
designed, but it still functions to produce
legitimate Presidents.

43. Let’s Just Get Rid of the
Political Parties!
Ain’t gonna happen!

44. What Were The Framers’
Concerns Again?
The people lack awareness and knowledge of potential
candidates.
Small states would be disfavored.
 The 11 largest states control 270 EC votes
 Of the 25 states with the largest VEP, 15 voted Blue,
10 voted Red in 2012
 The 25 largest states have 81% of the nation’s Voting
Eligible Population
Conclusion: Direct election favors the large states at the
expense of the small states.

45. One More Result of Direct
Election
“[Roosevelt] believed that
as President, he had a
unique relationship with and
responsibility to the people,
and therefore wanted to
challenge prevailing notions
of limited government and
individualism; government,
he maintained, should
serve as an agent of reform
for the people.”
Roosevelt’s violations
of the President’s
limited Constitutional
powers are legendary
45

46. Other Presidents Expanded
Executive Powers
"A fondness for power is implanted, in most
men, and it is natural to abuse it, when
acquired.“ Alexander Hamilton

47. So, Does My Vote Matter?
Yes – every vote matters (potentially). You
can never know in advance whose vote will
put a candidate over 50.01%.

48. In Summary
 If you want the large states to dominate
future Presidential elections… support NPV
support NPV
 If you want a President who acts as though
he represents the combined political power
of 320 million Americans…
 If you want to move ever closer to a pure
democracy, a form of government that the
Founders abhorred…support NPV
If not, we should stick with the admittedly
dysfunctional system we currently have.

49. What Can/Should I Do?
Spend (more) time studying the Framers original
plan and rationale.
Work to inform people of the rationale of the original
system.
49

50. “We the People, the Constitution Matters”
http://www.1180wfyl.com

51. Reason for Hope Conference
 Sponsored by The Foundation for
American Christian Education,
Chesapeake, VA
 November 11-12, 2016
 Atlantic Shores Baptist Church, VB

52. Questions/Comments?
www.ConstitutionLeadership.org
gary@constitutionleadership.org
757-817-1216