The Initial Design of the Electoral College: Basic Ideas, Logical Mistakes, and Overlooked Problems

Abstract

AbstractAlmost every American has either studied something about the Electoral College in school or at least heard of it. Yet to many people used to electing municipal, state, and Federal officials by the democratic principle “the one who gets the most votes always wins,” the Electoral College looks quite mysterious and antiquated. The mystery concerns how such a system could have existed for so long, and why it has not been replaced by a system that is based on the above democratic principle. In contrast, people who are curious about the election system often try to grasp (a) how the Electoral College could have emerged in the first place, and (b) what could have been the Founding Fathers’ logic of designing the system for electing a President and a Vice President. This chapter considers the Electoral College origins and analyzes a logical mistake made by the originators of the Constitution, which still remains in its text, as well as the election problems that were overlooked by the Founding Fathers in the original design of the Constitution.Keywords1787 Great CompromiseArticle 2 of the ConstitutionCommittee of Eleven, Electoral College ElectorsElectoral votesExecutive powerFounding FathersFounding Fathers’ logical mistake“One state, one vote” principleSlavery