I. Electing The President

A. Why don't citizens vote directly for President?

1. Some members of the Constitutional Convention didn't trust the common man - Hamilton.

2. Hamilton actually didn't want commoners to vote at all.

3. Jefferson and other anti Federalists compromised by creating the electoral college.

B. How was the electoral college designed?

1. Each state gets a number of "electors" equal to the number of representatives that the state has in the house.

2. Electors were chosen by the assemblies of each state.

3. Electors vote for president.

4. The person who comes in first become President and the person who comes in second becomes VP.

C. How does the system operate today?

1. President and VP now run together, on a ticket.

2. The Democrats and the Republicans each have their own set of electors for each state.

3. Electors have now promised to vote for the candidate that receives the majority of the popular vote in their state - whoever wins the majority of the vote in that state wins ALL the electoral votes for that state.