Talk:United States Electoral College/Archive 7

Contradiction in Article
Quote: "Of course, some winner-take-all approach is ultimately unavoidable in an election for an office to be filled by a single person. The states do not have to allocate votes on a winner-take-all approach, however. Therefore a winner-take-all approach is avoidable in an election for an office to be filled by a single person."

I guess what is meant by the first sentence is that in the end only one person can "take all" of the office, and the last sentence means that the statewide elections don't have to be winner-take-all. This doesn't contradict, but the paragraph as written contains contradiction. Please correct this if you can, I fail to think of a good way to put this. -- 212.63.43.180 20:21, 6 November 2007 (UTC)


 * I'm not sure I understand the argument in the first place. Considering all states vote on the same day, I don't see how it matters whether a third party starts as a "regional" phenomenon.  Maybe Ralph Nader would be able to say in 2004 that he had some electoral votes in 2000, but that wouldn't be a regional issue.  Maybe I'm missing something, but it looks a bit like someone made this up. Plinkit (talk) 23:35, 18 November 2007 (UTC)


 * Result: - No split. However, the article is growing even today (though unsourced), so it might be worth taking up in 6 months (July 2008), if it's growth has continued. - BillCJ (talk) 05:11, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

Split
There's a split tag on the article but no section on this page dedicated to its discussion. So here it is.


 * Agree. This article must be split into smaller articles. Timneu22 (talk) 20:16, 25 November 2007 (UTC)


 * Comment - There doesn't even seem to be any interest in discussing the issue, much less splitting the article. The article is 56 kilobytes total - that is long, but not overly so - many articles are over 80 kb, which is very lengthy. I'll give the tag another week or so, and then remove it, as it has been here long enough with no discussion. - BillCJ (talk) 19:03, 16 December 2007 (UTC)


 * Also, how would the article be split? Is there a single section that is longer than the others, or a way to divide the article roughly in half? The Reform section is only about 10kb, so while removing it would reduce the article size, it wouldn't be anywhere near half. The "Arguments for and against the current system" section is about 16 kb, so removing this with the reform section would take the article to 30 kb, which would be just over half the current size. The "Arguments for and against the current system" is really background for the "reform" section, so these would make a good combined article, though naming might be a bit cumbersome. Beyond these two sections, everything else should probably remain here. Now, will anyone even comment? :) - BillCJ (talk) 19:03, 16 December 2007 (UTC)
 * I see the problem as less one of content (warranting a wholesale split) as potentially one of verbosity within the sections (though even that is debatable) - for example Abolishing the non-proportional electors (drop 2) could be summed up in a sentence or two yet commands a whopping three paragraphs. --Pgva (talk) 20:41, 21 December 2007 (UTC)


 * Slight Disagree. I think that if there was a way to split this article into different pieces, I'd be all for it. But BillCJ's probably right - I can't find enough material to move to another page as a cohesive unit without pretty much making this article irrelevant. If anyone has any ideas, I'd be glad to hear them. -ryright (talk) 20:57, 20 December 2007 (UTC)


 * Disagree. There is no compelling reason to split the article. DMorpheus (talk) 20:43, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

Disagree. Do not split the article. Vidor (talk) 00:33, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

Disagree No need to split an article that covers the subject adequately. Recommend removing this tag. — BQZip01 — talk 01:06, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

"Death or unsuitability of candidates"
I have removed this section from the article and inserted some of the relevant text in the "faithless elector" section. This was previously one of the "arguments in favor", but, as the section itself noted, the 25th Amendment and the Presidential Succession Act obviate this argument. Succession is provided for even under a popular vote system. Vidor (talk) 00:38, 24 December 2007 (UTC)
 * The 25th Amend. and 1947 Act cover the period after the electors vote in December, not the period between the convention and the electors vote in December. Whoever added the 4th paragraph of that section got it wrong - two different time periods are being confused here. Thus the "argument" is not obviated. I restored it and removed the incorrect paragraph. NoSeptember  01:04, 24 December 2007 (UTC)
 * The time between the voting of the Electors and 11:59 AM of Inauguration Day is covered by Section 3 (and to a lesser extent by Section 4) of the 20th Amendment.--SMP0328. (talk) 02:51, 24 December 2007 (UTC)
 * You are wrong, and here is why: the period between Election Day and Electoral College Day is irrelevant. Nor is the death of a candidate relevant.  Electors are free agents.  They are free agents whether or not their candidate is alive or dead.  To put it another way: under the terms of the 25th Amendment and the Presidential Succession Act, if there is no POTUS nor VPOTUS by Inauguration Day, then the Speaker of the House becomes POTUS.  It matters not when the incoming POTUS and VPOTUS are disqualified: succession is provided for, in all cases.  The only difference is that if an incoming POTUS and/or VPOTUS were to croak in the six weeks between Election Day and Electoral College Day, the Electoral College itself would be able to pick the new President, and could pick anyone, whereas if the POTUS/VPOTUS died or were disqualified between Electoral College Day and Inauguration Day, the Congress would effectively choose the incoming POTUS when it elected a Speaker of the House.  Conversely, the only difference if we scrapped the Electoral College would be that the new Speaker of the House would be assured of becoming President regardless of when the incoming POTUS/VPOTUS died or were disqualified.  The Electoral College in no way makes the succession to the Presidency clearer.  It actually makes it much less clear, as the EC would be able to vote for whoever they chose.  (As, in fact, they are already free to do, for the most part.)  I am thus going to change the article back to what I changed it to before, and it should stay that way unless someone can construct any scenario where the Electoral College provides for a more certain succession. Vidor (talk) 04:36, 24 December 2007 (UTC)
 * Those free agents you speak of can make a free choice of how to respond to an unexpected death, and do so as late as mid-december. A system without free agents does not have that flexibility extended to such a late date. This section of the article is for arguments for the EC, flexibility of party selected free agents to act as late as mid-December to avoid an automatic succession proscribed by law is a valid argument. Avoiding the succession of the speaker, who was never put in that office with the idea that they would become President, while allowing the selection of a desirable replacement by party selected free agents, is a valid argument in favor of the EC. Making the succession clear is not part of the argument, flexibility of electors is the issue. Perhaps a "clear succession" argument could be added to the arguments against the EC, but this argument is part of the pro-EC section, and it has nothing to do with the later period when the 25th amendment and Succ. Act kick in (post mid-december). NoSeptember  05:13, 24 December 2007 (UTC)


 * You do realize that the text you've added now makes the "Faithless elector" section longer than the main text (excluding the list section) in the Faithless elector article? Usually it needs to be the other way around. Since you've not cited any sources in your very detailed additions here, perhaps the best option is to just remove it, and cut back some of the details that were there already. THen the main article can be expanded, with inline citations added per WP:ATTR. - BillCJ (talk) 05:18, 24 December 2007 (UTC)


 * Those free agents you speak of can make a free choice of how to respond to an unexpected death. Indeed.  They could elect Katie Couric.  This however is in no way an argument for the preservation of the Electoral College.  Avoiding the succession of the speaker, who was never put in that office with the idea that they would become President  The Speaker of the House has been in the line of succession to the presidency by law since the first Presidential Succession Act in 1792.  flexibility of electors is the issue  And this is not an argument for the preservation of the Electoral College for anything other than the narrow self-interest of the electors, and the particular interest of the dead winner's political party.  but this argument is part of the pro-EC section And it's wholly invalid.  Since you've not cited any sources in your very detailed additions here  It's all material from the "faithless elector" article.  Since you insist, I'll add a couple of links from Dave Leip's presidential election website. Vidor (talk) 18:13, 24 December 2007 (UTC)


 * You've totally ignored my other main point: it's too much info for a section that already has a main article. Keep it short and simple here, and do the explaining on the main page. - BillCJ (talk) 18:29, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

"District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act"
I have retitled this portion of the article (it was formally entitled "Current proposed legislative adjustment"). The previous title was vague. I also updated the House and Senate designations for this bill. As passed in the House, it was H.R. 1905 and in the Senate it is S 1257.--SMP0328. (talk) 03:13, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

"Original plan" expansion
I've added additional historical material regarding the way the Electoral College functioned pre-Twelfth Amendment. Also, I split off the portion of the "Original plan" section that dealt with the origin of the term "Electoral College." That portion is now it's own section ("Origin of name"). --SMP0328. (talk) 20:40, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

Restructuring and revising
I would suggest a new structure on broadly the following lines:


 * 1) Electoral College mechanics
 * 2) Apportionment of electors
 * 3) Etc. (Note that although the structure here is sound, the content needs work. For example, the section of apportionment doesn't make it clear that every state automatically gets two Senators regardless of population.) Comment added by — BQZip01 —  talk: Uh, the electoral college doesn't have anything to do with the election of senators. Reply Yes, it does. Your state's Electors are equal in number to your Representatives plus your Senators, which means the EC is only partially apportioned by population.  A.J.A. 20:59, 15 July 2007 (UTC)
 * 4) History of the College
 * 5) Before the 12th Amendment
 * 6) Between the 12th Amendment and 1824
 * 7) After 1824
 * 8) The College as political issue
 * 9) Critiques of the College
 * 10) Defences of the College
 * 11) Reform proposals
 * 12) Interstate Compact
 * 13) Etc.

A.J.A. 20:33, 15 July 2007 (UTC)


 * If you think it could be done better, be bold and do it! :-) — BQZip01 —  talk 20:40, 15 July 2007 (UTC)

11:06 A.M.E.S.T. Cape Cod Community College Library, David George DeLancey here. I read the information about the Electoral College I do understand it though I did not completely finish the article. Anyway it was very well understood, at first I ended up here at the talk cession and completed it, I have a few comments towards this portion of which others have added, on April 30 18:30. It states a President does not seek office. I find that strange and hard to believe, though where it says an office seeks the President well that is sort of understanding maybe if just that was a portion of engagement I would understand it clearer, because in order for a President to Hold Office he or she must want to do so. Theoretically it is the position that is available, that's what I understand. This is from BQZi 001 16:47,30 May 2007 Popular Vote Should Count in short somewhere within the Electoral System; though these are recommendations. , possibly, or just leave the period where it is. A sovereign is a state for it is a Bodied and or Balanced Boundary from another giving it a portion of existence to the term Law. Most things are assumed though considered an acknowledgment, an Acknowledgment is something that exists, If the Presidency is assuming the position then it is acknowledged that, that Position has acknowledgment to assume. If a country club was to listen to my announcement to a public and if a portion suddenly agreed with my proposal, then the others whom then may feel as to assume and have positive that it would work would consider it as an electoral or even a decision in controversy. The time of the election within their grasp would have more understanding.

11:26 a.m. e.s.t. For instance take this if I was wanting to be the President I would first want this, of course this is a desire, many have desires. Though through time I eventually think of an arrangement towards the position. It is advisable that thinking about the public is a great means and sooner or later one would have to accomplish something of the task, an acknowledgment for instance. A long time ago about 1986 I wondered why I had always since a child wanted to be the President. With thought and balance I came up with an idea; that everyone over the age of twenty-one gets five hundred dollars, sales tax of one percent, a state tax of a percentage from a paycheck towards the needs of that state, disabled persons would get of course more as for there needs, then the fifth and last thing are retired persons they would have to achieve a balance of funds to survive and conduct an every day procedure. I then thought of the sale; now wait a moment I thought isn't a sale what I am offering, if so then the five hundred dollars would than have to be five hundred and five dollars and five cents. This would happen every month of course retired persons and disabled persons get more, in all it's considered a tooling,

A high office would hire a subject to pay and collect taxes now while this is being read, it is possible that a particular party is just being like the other. For instance a Republic and a Democracy if there are one hundred persons in a Ball Room catching my announcement though only 82 are aware of it totally then the rest would possibly be still considered a republic and a Democracy would still be of some understanding, though in a since the already understood would still be a Democracy which was lets say available within a republic if this is agreed who then is recognizing it. THANK YOU I SHALL RETURN, TILL NEXT TIME David George DeLanceyDavid George DeLancey 15:50, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

3:02 which reminds me of the early Chevrolet engine oops sorry about that. What I really wanted to say was about my earlier segment I forgot about the other funny thing the Lightning Bolt characterized within a Half a Penny if two kids had a half a penny in this shape they would then be, perhaps pleased of what is, perhaps testing. Testing a vote, ok that was just me being funny again get with it oops ok that was just me talking to my self no really what really is a politician. Should I be deemed as a well whatever; ok i'll continue to be serious. If curious of my standard then just check it out what am I more of. And yes I do understand that this column is pertaining to the United States Electoral College somehow it has to make sense, here's a good one who's in. Now we have how much time do we need, heck take all the time in the world hopefully the computer system won't fail and if it does just think of all that loot sitting in the Federal Reserves Bank of the United States. Yes of course it would or will have to go through others remember we are all hired to pay our tax. 3:13 p.m.e.s.t.David George DeLancey (talk) 20:16, 7 January 2008 (UTC)_revisedDavid George DeLancey (talk) 16:45, 24 September 2011 (UTC)David George DeLancey (talk) 12:37, 26 September 2011 (UTC)

Pro-Conservative Bias
This article clearly has a pro-conservative bias as demonstrated by the "Losing the popular vote" section.

"In the elections of 1824, 1876, 1888, and 2000, the candidate who received a plurality of the popular vote did not become president. The 1824 election was eventually decided by Congress and thus distinct from the last three which were decided without.

Proponents of the system counter that the Electoral College requires candidates to garner more widespread support throughout the Union; a popular vote system could elect a person who wins by a large margin in a few states over another person who wins by small margins in most states. The latter candidate, the argument goes, has to appeal to a broader array of interests than the former and is less likely to be a demagogue or extremist. However, the Electoral College is not guaranteed to favor the latter candidate in that scenario. In fact, given the 2000 allocation of electors, a candidate could win with the support of just the 11 largest states.

Further, there is currently no such thing as a national "popular vote," because combining the different popular votes into a single vote has serious statistical problems, and claims of the electoral college denying the "popular will" are specious. For example, voters in Massachusetts or Texas in 2000, as their respective states were sure to vote Democrat or Republican for President, were more likely to vote for a third party candidate, or not vote at all, since their vote for their preferred Democrat or Republican candidate was extremely unlikely to change the result. Conversely, a voter in Florida was more likely to vote Democrat or Republican, even if they favored a third-party candidate, because their vote was much more likely to make a difference.

Similarly, the effect might be more likely to affect one candidate than another; for example, as there was a large anti-Bush sentiment in 2004, voters in uncontested states might have been more willing to come out in favor of John Kerry, despite their vote being less likely to make a difference, as a sign of opposition to incumbent George W. Bush.

The effects of this phenomenon are somewhat known, but impossible to quantify in any close election, such as in 2000, when Al Gore had 0.5% more of the cast votes than George W. Bush, far inside the margin of error of any study. Because of the extremely thin margin, the only way to know who would have won the popular vote in 2000 would be to have conducted an actual popular vote." —Preceding unsigned


 * If you feel the above quoted text is biased, I recommend that you add text that balances this article.--SMP0328. (talk) 20:23, 7 January 2008 (UTC)


 * You mean a pro-conservative statement such as this:
 * for example, as there was a large anti-Bush sentiment in 2004, voters in uncontested states might have been more willing to come out in favor of John Kerry, despite their vote being less likely to make a difference, as a sign of opposition to incumbent George W. Bush.


 * The last two paragraphs are basically OR speculation/conjecture anyway, no matter the perceived bias, and should be removed, as I doubt we can find reliable sources to attest to them. Adding unsourced biased info to balance other unsourced biased info is not the way to improve an article. - BillCJ (talk) 21:26, 7 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Your contention that there is any statistics involved in determining a national popular vote is incorrect. There is no statistics involved, because the vote totals are the entire population, not a sample.  The 1888 Law of the Electoral Count requires states to give "Certificates of Ascertainment" (see, so a national popular vote total can be determined, in fact.--Michael WhiteT&middot;C 14:39, 8 January 2008 (UTC)


 * I'm curious how this article could honestly be considered to have a pro-conservative bias? Is it because people jaded by the EC because of 2000, and editing the article to attack the EC, seem to air complaints that sound similar to talking points from the Democratic Party ? It would seem to me it's that particular batch of folks who are coming to this article with POV, and not those who simply try to say "Look, here's how the system works, here are the principles on which it was established, here's its flaws, and here are the ideas to fix those flaws." I'm not a GOPer, but I'm willing to bet that in defending the existing system, I'd be labeled one by those wanting the EC reformed... *sigh* Partisans... Foofighter20x (talk) 00:26, 14 February 2008 (UTC)

If people are talking about party views -- why not mention the Republican drive to abolish the Electoral college under President Nixon? 70.253.111.217 7 March 2008

"Bayh-Celler" Amendment
I separated the part discussing the "Bayh-Celler" Amendment into it's own section. The section in which it was originally describes current efforts at reforming the Electoral College system. The "Celler" Amendment is not a current reform effort. To clarify this point, I added the word "current" to the name of that section. --SMP0328. (talk) 03:40, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

I changed the House vote in this article from 339-70 to 338-70  --SMP0328. (talk) 06:27, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

According to the New York Times on September 19, 1969 as well as the Washington Post on September 19, 1969, the vote was 339-70. This vote tally was repeated within both papers for many years whenever a story on the vote would appear. Even Time Magazine, in its September 26, 1969 issue, reported that the vote was 339-70. Based on all of the above, while I acknowledge the Boston Globe article from October 17, 2004, which you have cited, and for which the original source article can be found at, I argue that said article is in error. Profstein2 (talk) 14:32, 11 January 2008 (UTC)
 * It's minor anyway. Is there anyway to find the official House record of that vote? --SMP0328. (talk) 20:18, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

Its only minor if you weren't vote # 339 :) Seriously though, the only source above the New York Times and Washington Post would probably be the Congressional Record itself and unfortunately those are not available on-line pre-1994.  I could always go and check the local library and see if they stock the old CR's. Profstein2 (talk) 21:39, 11 January 2008 (UTC)
 * If you can easily find the CR regarding this vote, then go for it. Otherwise, it not important enough for you to make a major effort. --SMP0328. (talk) 22:10, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

Quasi-Parliamentary System
What are the problems and advantages in adopting a system whereby the number of representatives and senators is kept (to maintain the point of the electoral college in giving smaller populated states additional power) but letting the President be selected by the majority group in the Lower House? Has this ever been discussed? This would possibly mean that members would need to be elected together on a four year cycle and would remove the governing anomaly where the President can have no control over the Representatives and Senate at the same time. The Senate would of course maintain itself independently Dainamo (talk) 00:38, 18 January 2008 (UTC)


 * This is what the Twelfth Amendment says in regards to the House choosing the President:


 * The person having the greatest Number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice.


 * While the House would choose the President, it would do so similar to how the Senate would. Each State delegation gets only one vote.  So what matters is getting a majority of State delegations to vote for a candidate, not merely getting a majority of Representatives to do so.  This prevents either the small States or the big States from gaining an advantage, just as is the case in the Electoral College. --SMP0328. (talk) 01:02, 18 January 2008 (UTC)


 * Having the President selected by the majority party of the House of Representatives violates the spirit of "Separation of Powers" implicit in the United States Constitution. The House is empowered to select a president only in the rare instance that there is no majority winner of the electoral vote.  The President is not intended to have "control" over either chamber of Congress.  What you refer to as an anomaly is an intended feature of the US system, not a problem.  Schoop (talk) 18:05, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Congressional District Method
I have replaced the section entitled "Maine Method" with a new section entitled "District Method." Unlike the previous section, the new one is fully referenced. Any material for which I couldn't find a reference I removed. The new section does not focus on Maine, like the previous section did. Nebraska and Maine now get equal treatment. --SMP0328. (talk) 20:46, 18 January 2008 (UTC)

I believe that the title "District Method" should be changed to "Congressional District Method". Please let me know what you think. (Uhllhu (talk) 20:00, 13 February 2008 (UTC))


 * No. They aren't the same things. I don't really agree with the "District Method" title either... "Districts and State" Method would better describe it. "District Method" by itself makes me think of Electoral Districting... Foofighter20x (talk) 21:19, 13 February 2008 (UTC)


 * Instead of changing the title of the section, simply add referenced material that further explains the District Method? --SMP0328. (talk) 21:30, 13 February 2008 (UTC)


 * To which "District Method" are you referring? There are two "District Method" sections. --SMP0328. (talk) 22:52, 13 February 2008 (UTC)


 * Here's the two District Methods I see: 1) electoral districting... i.e. California has 53 congressional districts, but would have 55 electoral districts inherently different from the congressional districts--this is what comes to mind when you say District Method, as least to me; 2) What you are calling the District Method--i.e. the Maine-Nebraska Method. I'm thinking a better title would be what I said above: Districts and State Method.  ... Or, this just hit me, "Tiered Level Method." Foofighter20x (talk) 00:13, 14 February 2008 (UTC)


 * How about I insert, at the beginning of the section the following:


 * (a.k.a., Maine-Nebraska Method)


 * That way people who know it as the "Maine-Nebraska Method" will not be confused. --SMP0328. (talk) 00:23, 14 February 2008 (UTC)


 * I have made the above insertion. --SMP0328. (talk) 04:08, 20 February 2008 (UTC)


 * I agree that Main-Nebraska Method should be included in this section, because that is the way that it is best known to people. However it is not the exact title of the method.  When you look at the websites for reference 19 and 20, they both refer to the method as the "district system" and then in the next sentence explain it as the congressional district method.


 * In addition the two aforementioned different types of district methods they are the same, because the winner of each congressional district gets that electoral vote and then the winner of the statewide popular vote receives the two electoral votes that are reserved for that state's senators which would describe why California has the two vote discrepancy in the above example. Maine and Nebraska operate the same way with the statewide popular vote winner getting two electoral votes and then the other votes divvied up by who won in each congressional district.


 * I plan on doing more research and adding to this topic with appropriate references, so if there is any direction that people would like this topic to take other than being detailed and referenced please let me know. (Uhllhu (talk) 19:53, 20 February 2008 (UTC))


 * It took me a little longer than I had predicted to conduct my research and and write a new section with references, but I have finally done it. I removed part of what was there before, but I believe that included everything that was there in the new section.  In addition I changed the name to Congressional District Method because that is from my research the most common term for this method.  Please take a look at my addition and make changes to it yourself or let me know what you feel needs to be done to make the section better.  (Uhllhu (talk) 22:23, 11 April 2008 (UTC))


 * You did a very good job. I did make some clarifications and grammar fixes to what you added. I didn't make any substantive changes to that section. --SMP0328. (talk) 00:38, 12 April 2008 (UTC)

Proposed Legislation
Anastrophe has now twice removed a sentence referring to the fact that the Illinois Governor has legislation before him that would add Illinois to the list of States that support the National Popular Vote Initiative. This is relevant information, yet Anastrophe continues to remove it. The first time was when someone else added the sentence with an improper cite. The second time was when I added the sentence, but with a proper cite. Anastrophe second removal was based on the fact that the legislation has not yet been enacted. If that is a legitimate reason for removal of material, much of this article should be deleted. I believe Anastrophe is in error. Here is the disputed sentence (with the proper cite):

''A similar plan is being considered in Illinois by Governor Rod Blagojevich. '' --SMP0328. (talk) 00:27, 21 January 2008 (UTC)


 * i'm not interested in an edit war on the matter, so i certainly won't revert if it's added back. generally speaking though, the reality is that at any given moment, there's a hundred thousand bits and pieces of legislation all around the country that are in the process of being considered, mulled over, debated, refined, negotiated, whatever. ultimately it fails notability unless and until whatever it is becomes actual legislation. on the same basis, i object to addition of fluff to articles about legislators, referring to legislation they sponsored, endorsed, supported, whatever - but that later never became law. it's subtle crap in the long haul, because history does notably record failed legislation - except with it's exceptionally notable. but i digress. Anastrophe (talk) 00:40, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

Way too much detail on alternatives
The "The District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act" opens up this section, but isn't even about the electoral college system, per se. This whole section is way too long. Touching on the issues that a small group of people have with this institution is comprehensive, having 1/2 of the article be long, detailed prescriptions for changing it is advocacy journalism, not Wikipedian neutrality.

The Electoral College is fairly settled as far as American law goes. There has been no attempt to amend the Constitution in this area in my long life. Having this much discussion of "for and against" might make some sense on a really contentious issue like the Second Amendment. Here it just looks silly. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.42.220.203 (talk) 17:53, 2 February 2008 (UTC)


 * There are currently efforts to change the Electoral College system. Along with the section you cite, there are the efforts at passing the National Popular Vote interstate compact, and the effort at passing an initiative in California to have that State's Electoral Votes distributed via the District Method. So while these efforts are not Constitutional amendments, they are relevant to this article. --SMP0328. (talk) 19:52, 2 February 2008 (UTC)

"National popular vote interstate compact" does not change the FEDERAL system in any way whatsoever. The state legislature still determines how the electors are chosen. Why a state such as California would want to throw away 55 Democratic votes, replacing them about 1/2 the time with Republican votes... and why a Republican Governor would choose to protect the Democratic majority of California (loyalty to his own state, I guess) is too strange to guess. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.253.111.217 (talk) 16:03, 7 March 2008 (UTC)


 * Any reference to the Electoral College usually includes both the federal and state components. So whether you want to consider that compact as federal or state in nature, it definitely would change the Electoral College. --SMP0328. (talk) 20:45, 7 March 2008 (UTC)

Do Electors appear on any state ballots?
The article has been edited to reflect that all states do not place the names of Presidential Electors on the ballot. Is this correct? If any state does place the name of Presidential Electors on the ballot (with or without the names of the Presidential and VP candidates), please post the name of such state with references. --SMP0328. (talk) 22:20, 2 February 2008 (UTC)
 * In Louisiana the Electors appear on the ballot see Louisiana RS 18:1259 --Looktothis (talk) 18:31, 4 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Also see 2004 Electors for President and Vice President of the United States--Looktothis (talk) 16:50, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

Are the certificates for the electoral vote a public record
As I understand the certificates for the electoral vote of each state are created under the provisions of Chapter 1 of Title 3, United States Code Presidential Elections and Vacancies  [2] does that make them a public record? --Looktothis (talk) 16:06, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

The Image of Certificate for the electoral Vote was remove from Wikimedia Commons
The Image of certificate for the electoral vote for the State of Colorado was remove Wikimedia Commons because someone thinks it is not public domain however the image is from the NARA--Looktothis (talk) 20:51, 28 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Although documents created by the US Government are in the public domain, the same does not necessarily apply to documents created by state governments (it may depend on the laws of the state in question). If there is a copyright, it would be owned by the State of Colorado... although I don't know if there is or not.  Can anyone check whether or not Colorado has a similar copyright/public domain provision? --ΨΦorg (talk) 20:05, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

To capitalize or not to capitalize
Should members of the Electoral College be called "electors" or "Electors"? The article sometimes uses one and sometimes the other. Even the Constitution isn't clear on this. Article II and the Twelfth Amendment say "Electors" while the Fourteenth Amendment and the Twenty third Amendment say "electors". The article should only use one or the other, not both. Which should be in the article? --SMP0328. (talk) 02:13, 12 March 2008 (UTC)


 * Capitalize - Proper noun, and all. :) Foofighter20x (talk) 10:28, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

I have changed any "elector" or "electors" into "Elector" or "Electors". --SMP0328. (talk) 20:10, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Lowercase. Elector is not a proper noun. Article II and the 12th Amendment are capitalized because all nouns were capitalized back then, essentially because that was the fashion at the time. The later amendments and the statute are a better guide: they use lowercase. MoS covers this situation and would call for lowercase. The same is true of The Chicago Manual of Style. I'm changing it back to lowercase. -Rrius (talk) 22:11, 15 May 2008 (UTC)


 * I have recapitalized "Representative", "Senator", "President", and "Vice President". Those are the names of political offices and so are definitely proper nouns. Elector/elector could be a proper noun or it could simply be descriptive (note that the Constitution also uses "elector" to describe a regular voter). I simply believe its use should be consistent throughout this article. --SMP0328. (talk) 01:43, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

Merger of cite tags
I merged the various cite tags at the top of multiple sections into a single tag at the top of the article. Having so many tags simply cluttered the article. The "original research" tag at the top of the Proportional vote subsection of the Current reform proposals section was not moved or changed. --SMP0328. (talk) 01:26, 16 March 2008 (UTC)

Role of Slavery in Origin of Electoral College
Articles such as this one http://www.iwantmyvote.com/newsclips/2005/jan/news2005-01-04b.php make a very believable suggestion that slavery was an important motivator for the establishment of the US Electoral College. If they're incorrect on this point, then it might at least be worth a sentence debunking such theories, however this has a whiff of accuracy to it and surely there are folks here who know. Jamiegilardi (talk) 21:02, 17 March 2008 (UTC)


 * Plausibility does not equate proof. So then, what are the facts?
 * 1. "Those who opposed direct election said, 'The people are uninformed, and would be misled by a few designing men.'" Yep... And that's still holding true to this day. Sorry if that sounds elitist of me, but facts are facts.
 * 2. Having the legislature elect the executive is a direct strike at the independence of the executive branch, which is absolutely necessary in a government with separate, co-equal branches. The southern states were VERY used to electing their executive this way in 1787, so the author's argument about the number of voters is shaky.
 * 3. "The real sticking point against direct election came from Southern states who feared being at a disadvantage since part of their population, slaves, was forbidden from voting." This is incorrect... and prejudicial. Seems to me the author made this assertion in order to emotionally charge and influence the reader. The assertion is based on a statement of James Madison made a few sentences after the quote that is given in the article. What Madison was talking about was the disparity of qualified voters. Let's get one thing straight: slaves couldn't vote. However, free whites could, if they met the voter qualifications. The southern states had tighter voter restrictions than the northern states. As such, slavery had nothing to do with voter qualifications. Thus, the author's assertion here is either ill-informed or intellectually dishonest.
 * 4. The compromise on the EC was not at the "last-minute." A general consensus on electing the executive via electors was reached by mid July, although the Convention was rather fickle on the choice. The Committee of Eleven made the final decision, then later reported it on 4 Sep 1787, nearly two weeks before the Convention adjourned. They had plenty of time left to hug it out.
 * 5. The EC worked exactly as it was supposed to in 1824. Jackson had neither a majority of the EC nor of the popular vote. And with nearly 60% of those who did cast a ballot voting against Jackson hardly makes him a clear winner in any reasonable person's book.

Foofighter20x (talk) 09:10, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Speculation removed
I removed the following from the "Proportional vote" subsection of the "Current reform proposals" section:

''A perceived problem with dividing electoral votes proportionally is that it would be harder for a candidate to achieve a majority of the electoral vote, since a proportional system would enable a third party candidate to win electoral votes. If this system had been used in 1992 and 1996, and all electors had voted as pledged, there would have been no winner at all, and the House of Representatives would have chosen the President, and the Senate would have selected the Vice President. It's plausible, due to the partisan make-up of the House and Senate in 1996, that Robert Dole would have been the likely House winner, and Jack Kemp the likely Senate winner, despite receiving significantly fewer votes than Bill Clinton and Al Gore. Applying this concept in the 2000 election, Al Gore would have received 269 electoral votes, George W. Bush 263, and Ralph Nader 6. If all electors voted as pledged, the Presidential race would have gone to the Republican-run House, and Bush likely would have won, but the Vice Presidential decision in the Senate would theoretically have been split 50–50, with neither Vice Presidential candidate getting "a majority of the whole number" of Senators (as required by the Twelfth Amendment).''

The quoted material was pure speculation and was unsourced. It certainly counted as Original Research. For those three reasons, I removed the quoted material from the article. --SMP0328. (talk) 22:55, 17 March 2008 (UTC)
 * Not to mention that the House being controlled by a Republican majority on its face does not mean that a majority of state delegations are majority Republican--i.e., the 12 largest states could be entirely red in their delegations, thus giving the GOP in this case a House majority; however, this would also mean that the other 38 delegations could have majority blue control. Since each state delegation must vote as one body, and only 26 states are needed to win, it'd actually be easy for a House minority to wind up picking the winner.Foofighter20x (talk) 10:22, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

I have removed more speculation:

Some proponents of proportional representation claim that, because third parties generally start as regional phenomena and because the Electoral College is a form of regional allocation, the Electoral College would enhance the power of third parties if electoral votes were allocated in a proportional manner.

There was no source identifying these "proponents" and no sourcing for what would happen "if electoral votes were allocated in a proportional manner." For these reasons, I have removed this statement from the "Disadvantage for third parties" subsection of the "Arguments for and against the current system" section. --SMP0328. (talk) 17:55, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

Introduction way too long
There is considerable discussion of the mechanics of the electoral college in the lead-in paragraph. I think the intro should be bare-bones "this is what the EC is" and leave the details about why elector's names aren't on ballots for the main article. Aldenrw (talk) 18:43, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

Table?
Could I suggest a table as a supplement to the graph showing number of votes per state? The current map is of no use to me as I don't know which state is where precisely. I would do it myself, but I would probably get the states wrong. GetDownAdam (talk) 16:13, 2 May 2008 (UTC)
 * That would be an excellent addition. I doubt most visitors to this page, even those from the United States, can identify all the states simply by looking at them on a map. SS451 (talk) 21:07, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

Electoral College mechanics
This whole section seems to me redundant, with material covered earlier in the article. Bitbut (talk) 05:09, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

Proposed new Introduction
The opening of the current article strikes me as unnecessarily confusing, especially to non Americans or persons who are not already familiar with the system, and I suggest replacing it with the following text. Thoughts or critiques are welcome (and no disrespect is intended towards the writer of the current text.)

The Electoral College is the body of representatives which formally elects the President and Vice President of the United States.

Rather than directly voting for the President and Vice President, U.S. citizens cast votes for electoral college representatives, known as electors. While electors are theoretically free to vote for the candidate of their choice, in practice they pledge to vote for specific candidates. Thus, voters indirectly vote for Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates by voting for correspondingly pledged electors. Because all of the electors from a state will generally vote for the Presidential candidate that receives the most votes in that state, US Presidential campaigns concentrate on winning the popular vote in a combination of states that choose a majority of the electors, rather than campaigning to win the most votes nationally.

Currently the Electoral College is composed of 538 electors. Each state has a number of electors equal to the number of its Senators and Representatives in the United States Congress. Additionally, the District of Columbia is given a number of electors equal to the number held by the smallest states. . U.S. territories are not represented in the Electoral College.

Each elector casts two votes: one for President and one for Vice President. In order to be elected, a candidate must have a majority (currently 270) of the Electoral Votes. Should no candidate for President win a majority of the electoral votes, the choice is given to the House of Representatives. Should no candidate for Vice President possess a majority of the electoral votes, the choice is given to the Senate.

The Constitution allows each state legislature to designate a method of choosing electors. At present, 48 states and the District of Columbia have adopted a winner-takes-all popular vote rule–– voters choose between statewide slates of electors pledged to vote for a specific Presidential and Vice Presidential candidate. The candidate that wins the most votes in the state wins the support of all of that state’s electors. Two other states, Maine and Nebraska, use a tiered system where a single elector is chosen within each Congressional district and two electors are chosen by statewide popular vote. Because Maine and Nebraska are both small, the vast majority of electors are chosen by statewide vote. As such, U.S. Presidential elections are effectively an amalgamation of 51 separate, simultaneous first past the post elections, rather than a single national election.

The Electoral College is controversial due in large part to the fact candidates with less total popular support can win election. This has happened on several occasions in American history. Critics argue the Electoral College is inherently undemocratic and gives certain swing states disproportionate clout in selecting the President and Vice President. Adherents argue that the Electoral College is an important and distinguishing feature of the federal system, and protects the rights of smaller states. Numerous constitutional amendments have been submitted seeking a replacement of the Electoral College with a direct popular vote. However, due to the difficulty of amending the Constitution, no submission has ever successfully passed both Houses of Congress. Amjsjc (talk) 13:47, 18 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Your proposal sounds interesting, but I would include the footnotes that are part of the current Introduction. --SMP0328. (talk) 00:12, 19 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Will do. Didn't have time to format the post yesterdayAmjsjc (talk) 12:01, 19 May 2008 (UTC)
 * I like how this intro is ordered, but I'd like a few tweaks. Is it okay to make them? Foofighter20x (talk) 23:49, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

Be my guestAmjsjc (talk) 00:07, 20 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Two words: BE BOLD!!! — BQZip01 —  talk 01:18, 20 May 2008 (UTC)
 * I like the proposed Introduction, but before it replaces the current Introduction I want to know if "Elector" or "elector" is correct. I don't care which one is correct, but it should be the same throughout the article. --SMP0328. (talk) 02:25, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

As has been noted in a comment above the constitution seem to capitalize interchangeably. However the newest amendment (23rd) and the US Code seem to use a lower case 'e' and I'll assume that that's now standard procedure. If anyone strongly disagrees feel free to change or let me know.)Amjsjc (talk) 09:55, 20 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Added my tweaks... Foofighter20x (talk) 07:15, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

I've made a few counter tweaks (most substantially to the text explaining the statewide winner take all system). I've also restored a sentence at the end of para 2 that (tries) to explain the overall system in a nutshell. Since this may indicate a potential disagreement over content I think it is useful to include a sentence early on that sums up the system of candidates trying to win statewide votes in order to win an electoral college majority --I'm sure there'll be a lot of people who know little or nothing about US politics reading this in coming months, and it will be simpler if they're told directly and early on how the system works in practice rather than being forced to piece it together. Otherwise I think we're basically in agreement over content and I will post this in a few hours if there are no strong objections.Amjsjc (talk) 11:02, 20 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Wasn't a disagreement... Just trying to keep the intro to the most bare bones basics since we have the rest of the article to flesh it all out. :D Foofighter20x (talk) 16:50, 20 May 2008 (UTC)


 * I've made a few tweaks as well, the most important one being clarifying that Section 3 of the Twentieth Amendment alone covers an Inauguration Day without a President-elect. The part of Twelfth Amendment that partially covered this situation is superseded by that Section 3. --SMP0328. (talk) 19:16, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

One could ask if winner-take-all is democratic
Both James Madison and Thomas Jefferson were opposed to factions and saw them as being harmful politically. Winner-take-all allows one faction to claim the votes which democratically would belong to another. It tends to suppress minorities and divides the votes of weaker groups among the stronger. Technically, it is the State Legislatures which are responsible for determining the method by which electoral college members are selected. Winner-take-all is not representative of the population or political districts but is rather a tool of the party politics. It is politically repressive and tends to allow a faction to impose its policies on the nation as a whole. It promotes placing the interests a party over that of the nation. --Jbergquist (talk) 05:28, 18 June 2008 (UTC)


 * How is the above comment relevant to the article? An article's talk page is for discussing that article, not the topic about which that article is based. --SMP0328. (talk) 21:25, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

July 10, 2008
I have removed the Abolishing the non-proportional electors (drop two) subsection that was in the Active reform proposals section. It said:

"Another proposed reform is to make the number of electors that each state has the same as its number of Representatives (effectively the same as the current system, except taking two electoral votes from each state). This plan, sometimes called "drop two," could still be seen as inherently unfair, as some of the least populous states would be proportionally overrepresented while some of the slightly more populous single-representative states would be significantly underrepresented (for example, Wyoming, the least populous state, has one Representative for 510,000 inhabitants; Montana has one Representative for 935,000 inhabitants; compare this to California, which averages one Representative for each 681,000 Californians). Proponents of this suggestion say that this will preserve the Electoral College's benefits and make the system more democratic at the same time. Others say this will remove the extra power given to the small states intended to make elections more fair and there would still exist the phenomenon of non-swing states being ignored. The late historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. had proposed decreasing the number of electors in the Electoral College from 538 to 436, with each state allotted the same number of votes as their number of representatives in the House of Representatives (with one vote for the District of Columbia). Each state would be required to use a winner-take-all system. Then, 102 votes would automatically be given to the winner of the national popular vote. Schlesinger felt that this would maintain the stability of a two-party system (as a winner-take-all system already does), while virtually guaranteeing that the person who wins the national popular vote would automatically win the presidential election."

This subsection had no citations and did not refer to a current effort at reforming the Electoral College. For its lack of relevance to the section in which it was located, and for having no citations, this subsection was removed from the article. SMP0328. (talk) 05:25, 10 July 2008 (UTC)

September 3, 2008
I have removed the following material from the Congressional District Method subsection of the Alternative methods of choosing electors section:

''In 1828, New York used its own variant of the District Method for choosing electors. Just as Maine and Nebraska now do, voters in each congressional district would select one elector. However, these electors would then in turn choose the remaining two electors, instead of these electors being directly determined by voters statewide. In this single state contest, it resulted in a 20–16 split between Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams.''

This material had no sourcing (see cite tag that's been in place since May of this year). It also is original research in that it's not clear that this material is a form of the Congressional District Method. SMP0328. (talk) 00:36, 3 September 2008 (UTC)

Electoral College Formula
Is the Electoral College Formula important enough to mention?

House (435) + Senate (100) + District of Columbia (3) = 538 electoral votes 76.103.235.233 (talk) 05:25, 30 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Of course it's important enough to mention. Why shouldn't this article explain how the Electoral College functions? Some people don't know how it works. --SMP0328. (talk) 19:13, 30 July 2008 (UTC)

"Broad national support"- definition
"There are some examples of candidates winning elections without broad national support. For example, Lincoln won in 1860 without contesting a single southern state, and George W. Bush similarly won in 2004 without winning a single state in the northeast or on the west coast." (emphasis mine)

This is fairly confusing. Aside from the fact Bush won AK (I think) which is technically on the west coast, surely it would also make much more sense choosing someone like Kerry as an example, whose support is in pockets on the west coast, northeast and mid-west (to some extent), rather than someone who has more or less coast-to-coast, north-to-south electors geographically. Just sayin'. Bush is not the best example of this. 90.212.122.181 (talk) 19:00, 5 August 2008 (UTC)


 * That part of the article was a mess. It tried to make a point, but then countered that very point. I have reworded and retitled that part of the Contemporary conflict over the Electoral College section to better express what that part was trying to say and did so in a much more concise fashion. Also, I provided a real source (replacing a link to an Amazon page trying to sell a book). SMP0328. (talk) 21:11, 5 August 2008 (UTC)


 * I would say that 1860 and 2004 were more like the exceptions that prove the rule. The idea is that the candidate must appeal to more than just sectional/regional factions of the country.  No one claimed it was a factual requirement to win.  It is possible, however, it's not typical. Foofighter20x (talk) 21:38, 5 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Another angle: In 1860, second-place Breckinridge (electoral votes) in 1860 could have won with 75,000 votes changed, while still failing to obtain more popular votes than first- and second-place popular vote getters, Lincoln and Douglas. And second-place popular vote getter had fourth-place electoral college votes. Analysis at: Mike Shepard, How close were Presidential Elections? - Lincoln: popular vote: 1,865,908 - electoral: 180 -  Douglas: popular: 1,380,202 - electoral: 12 -  Breckinridge: 848,019; - electoral: 72
 * -- Yellowdesk (talk) 05:33, 7 August 2008 (UTC)

Reviving suggestion for a table
From the archives. The article would be more informative with a simple table listing each state and its current number of electoral votes (and perhaps projected number of EVs after 2010, although I don't think that's necessary). I'm a citizen of the United States, and I can't identify every state from a map with no state names filled in, meaning the current way we're displaying this information is probably close to useless for a non-U.S. user, who would be unlikely to even be able to identify the states most familiar to American users. I suppose the comparison with the cartographic version that appears below the original map could get you there, but it seems like a fair amount of work.

I'd be willing to fill in the actual data, but I don't know how to make tables on WP. If someone chimes in with the appropriate Wikitext to create such a table, I will do the rest. If there's a concern about the table being cumbersomely large, perhaps it could be made collapsible, and collapsed by default? Is that even possible at WP? SS451 (talk) 18:07, 15 August 2008 (UTC)


 * I've added a new section that contains such a list. Feel free to improve it. SMP0328. (talk) 18:59, 15 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Thanks, that works. In terms of clutter, though, I feel like it would be better to make it into a table, perhaps with four side-by-side columns. I'll check some other articles to see how that might be accomplished. SS451 (talk) 22:57, 15 August 2008 (UTC)


 * I agree, but I don't know how to do that. I figured it was better to get the information into the article and let others do the cosmetic work. SMP0328. (talk) 02:36, 16 August 2008 (UTC)


 * I've added the table. I realized only after completing it that it should really be subdivided into three separate two-column columns, so that there would be an equal distribution and no annoying blank space in the bottom right. I may fix that sometime tomorrow, but for now this one should do. SS451 (talk) 05:48, 16 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Should the list of states be in alphabetical order or some type of numerical order? SMP0328. (talk) 02:37, 17 August 2008 (UTC)


 * I currently have them in alphabetical order, as you can see. I have a weak preference for that organizational scheme, simply because I think it's slightly more likely people will come looking for the number of votes a specific state or states has/have, rather than looking for states with high totals. I don't think it matters very much either way; after all, there are only 51 items total. SS451 (talk) 06:02, 17 August 2008 (UTC)


 * I've filled the blank space in the bottom right of the table with the total number of states (and D.C.) and the total number of electoral votes. It's better than having a blank portion of the table. SMP0328. (talk) 01:18, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

Process in event of a deadlock
Perhaps a minor question, but I wonder if we could provide more clarity as to the process in the event of a tie in the electoral college vote? From reading through, it looks as if the process moves to the House of Representatives 'voting by state'. It's not completely clear what this means; I assume that the Representatives from a given state vote together and produce a single 'by state' (first-past-the-post) vote for a president? Might we clarify this? I only ask as, looking at the state of the polls by state on RealClearPolitics, a dead heat in the Electoral College vote looks possible. PolScribe (talk) 10:35, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Some commentary on this question (which - helpfully? - references Wikipedia for its research): http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2008/08/a_presidential_tie.php PolScribe (talk) 10:37, 11 September 2008 (UTC)


 * Constitutionally, a tie is simply another way for nobody getting a majority of the electoral votes. If nobody has such a majority, the House of Representatives chooses the President (read the Twelfth Amendment for details). You have the House voting procedure correct. Each House delegation gets one vote. --SMP0328. (talk) 20:18, 11 September 2008 (UTC)


 * This is already in the article under the Contingent Election section. Foofighter20x (talk) 00:19, 12 September 2008 (UTC)

The article is locked, so I can't edit. Can someone registered add the appropriate link on "explained in detail below" to point to the right place in the article? The full paragraph is this: "If no candidate receives a majority in the election for President, or Vice President, that election is determined via a contingency procedure in the Twelfth Amendment, which is explained in detail below." 217.132.139.231 (talk) 22:41, 29 October 2008 (UTC)

Tie in the Senate
Along the same line as the above discussion, this line confused me:

"Additionally, the Twelfth Amendment states that a "majority of the whole number" of Senators (currently 51 of 100) is necessary for there to be a selection of one of the two candidates. This provision essentially prohibits the sitting Vice President from casting a tie-breaking vote in the case of an evenly divided chamber."

How does requiring at least 51 Senators to be present keep the Vice President from casting a tie-breaking vote? I don't see the connection. 74.94.21.101 (talk) 19:06, 12 September 2008 (UTC)


 * The Vice President, although being the President of the Senate, is not one of the 100 Senators. So 50 Senators plus the VP is not a "majority of the whole number" of Senators. In order to have such a majority, you need 51 Senators. SMP0328. (talk) 19:16, 12 September 2008 (UTC)


 * I concur with SMP. The requirement is not that 51 senators be present for voting to take place (that requirement actually mandates that at least 67 senators are present).  The requirement is that the candidate elected Veep have the votes of 51 senators, (i.e., a majority of the whole number; the whole number is 100, a majority is 50% + 1; thus, the requirement prohibits a tie vote to be decided by the sitting Veep's tie-breaker). Foofighter20x (talk) 00:09, 13 September 2008 (UTC)


 * Okay, that makes sense. 74.94.21.101 (talk) 06:58, 13 September 2008 (UTC)
 * But 50 Senators + the Vice President is also 51. Since the provision would be rational if that margin were able to elect (it prevents 40 Senators from electing a VP by ensuring that 21 of the Senators for his opponent are absent), the interpretation that this prevents the sitting Vice President from determining the election may well be right, but does require a source. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 21:48, 17 September 2008 (UTC)
 * The Twelfth Amendment requires "a majority of the whole number" of Senators agree to a choice for Vice President. The sitting Vice President is President of the Senate, but he is not a Senator. The vote of 51 Senators is needed for a selection. 50 Senators plus the President of the Senate does not equal 51 Senators. SMP0328. (talk) 00:22, 18 September 2008 (UTC)
 * That makes sense; it made sense last time - but it would still be all the better for a source. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 02:47, 18 September 2008 (UTC)
 * I have added a source. Scroll down to "Contingent Election". Tell me what you think of it. SMP0328. (talk) 03:49, 18 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Which words in that source do you construe to assert that [t]his provision prevents the Senate from selecting a Vice President through the votes of half of the Senators together with the vote of the President of the Senate? (Again, it's a reasonable conclusion; let's have someone else draw it through.) Septentrionalis PMAnderson 04:12, 18 September 2008 (UTC)


 * And on further consideration, I will so tag. This case was a genuine possibility something less than eight years ago, and there was some discussion of the sitting Vice-President casting his vote on the incoming Vice-Presidency, if certain arguably disqualified Electors were ignored by the Senate. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 04:31, 18 September 2008 (UTC)
 * I have removed your tag. The source is the Congressional Research Service, which is an arm of the Library of Congress. The fact that some people spoke about this in 2000 doesn't affect verifiability. After you go to the source scroll down to "Contingent Election" to read the material I'm citing. There it says that "In the Senate, the Vice President is elected from among the two candidates who received the most electoral votes, with each Senator casting a single vote" and that "in the Senate, a majority of 51 or more votes is required to elect." SMP0328. (talk) 18:10, 18 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Neither of those sentences, together or separately, says that the Vice-President may not vote. Until a source which actually draws that conclusion is presented, I will remove the sentence to here. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 18:19, 18 September 2008 (UTC)


 * ''This provision prevents the Senate from selecting a Vice President through the votes of half of the Senators together with the vote of the President of the Senate.<:ref>RL30804: The Electoral College: An Overview and Analysis of Reform Proposals, L. Paige Whitaker and Thomas H. Neale, January 16, 2001
 * I provided a reliable source (the Congressional Research Service). The fact that it doesn't match what you thought the Twelfth Amendment meant, doesn't make it unreliable. SMP0328. (talk) 18:29, 18 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Your source is reliable; however, it does not say what the article does. I have asked for a third opinion. Until then, I am tagging this section, for original research. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 18:41, 18 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Is there any way, within Wikipedia, to resolve this? SMP0328. (talk) 18:48, 18 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Several:
 * Find a source which says that the President of the Senate does not break ties in such a vote, in so many words. I will accept this as a source for the sentence in dispute.
 * Wait for more editors to come along and discuss the matter. This is the original purpose of tags.
 * Ask for more opinions from an editor whose opinion you value; I have already done this.
 * Mention the matter at a WikiProject.
 * Take it to one of the formalized sources for mediation: WP:RfM or WP:Mediation cabal.
 * Remove the sentence dealing with a hypothetical situation, as of limited value to the article anyway. (I would not be surprised that, if the situation actually arose, it would be decided on the spot, as might serve best the political advantage of the sitting President of the Senate and the courts, like the improvised settlement of 1876.) Septentrionalis PMAnderson 18:57, 18 September 2008 (UTC)
 * By the way, you do realize that there is a bot, whose sole function is to date tags, which will operate every hour or so? There's no particular reason to do it by hand. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 19:01, 18 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Who is this editor "you value"? As for dating tags, I just figured I'd get it over with. Why wait for SmackBot when you can do it yourself? SMP0328. (talk) 19:26, 18 September 2008 (UTC)
 * I'm sure SmackBot won't mind. It lives to serve. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 20:04, 18 September 2008 (UTC)
 * I suggest you read this document from the U.S. Government: RS20300: Election of the President and Vice President by Congress: Contingent Election by Thomas H. Neale. It says: "If no candidate for Vice President receives a majority of electoral votes, then the Senate elects, choosing between the two candidates receiving the most electoral votes. A quorum of two-thirds of the Senate (67 Members) is necessary for the purposes of contingent election of the Vice President Each Senator casts a single vote. The votes of a majority of the whole Senate (51 or more) are necessary to elect the Vice President." Necessarily, by simple comprehension, if only 50 Senators vote one way, then no candidate is elected. Such a declaration of procedure summarily discludes any roll for the sitting Vice President in casting a tie-breaking vote in this instance. Foofighter20x (talk) 22:46, 18 September 2008 (UTC)
 * I have read it. I do not see the necessity. Please find a source that does. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 16:47, 19 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Septentrionalis asked me to provide an outside opinion. I carefully read the source in question (RL30804) to see if it contained the above assertion.  I was surprised by the assertion of uncertainty about whether the 20th Amendment applied to a death after the electors cast their votes and before they are counted.  I was thunderstruck by the assertion that the election of 1825 was decided under the 25th Amendment.  I did not find any assertion about the role of the President of the Senate in a contingent election by the Senate.  The rule against original research requires us to be very careful about deductions and Foofighter's argument goes too far.  In the unlikely case of a 50-50 tie, the President of the Senate could claim to have a tie-breaking vote on the basis of Art. I Sect 3, and the winner would have 51 votes.  We need a clearer source, and I would not be astonished if there is diversity on this point.  Robert A.West (Talk) 20:33, 19 September 2008 (UTC)
 * I see that an additional source (RS20300) was asserted above. I don't see a direct assertion there, either.Robert A.West (Talk) 20:44, 19 September 2008 (UTC)
 * I've revised to state what I believe is the strongest deduction that we can make: a single absence or vote of "present" would render the VP's role moot. I footnoted the reasoning (as a mathematically-certain deduction that requires only ordinary arithmetic).  Since each senator has an effective liberum veto over the tie-breaking, I can't see how this would happen, except as an arrangement to avoid a constitutional crisis without having someone switch his vote.  If 100 senators don't object, the legal scholars are irrelevant.  I can't see a way to get that observation into the article absent a source, however. Robert A.West (Talk) 21:32, 19 September 2008 (UTC)
 * I still think the Twelfth Amendment is clear in this regard, but until a satisfactory source for this is found I accept Robert A.West's addition to the article. SMP0328. (talk) 01:12, 20 September 2008 (UTC)
 * I have found a pretty good source that supports my assertion, and that is the Journal of the Senate from 1837. The requirement for election couldn't be clearer: a majority of the whole number of Senators. There is precedent for my argument, so this uncertainty over what the Senate would do is BS. What I don't get is why this West guy can't extend the same common sense interpretation of the House procedures over to that of the Senate. A majority of the whole is just that. In the House, it's 26 states; in the Senate, it's 51 senators. If they don't get a majority in the House, guess what... They keep balloting! It's not a stretch in the face of such evidence to see the Senate would do the same thing. A 50-50 split means majority was not achieved. No majority, no election. Also, any reasonable jurist would see the wisdom in arguing that the Veep's tie breaker is an Article I power, which confines it to the legislative process. The duties the Veep has in relation to the election of Pres and Vice Pres is simply to open the votes and count them in the presence of the House and Senate. Foofighter20x (talk) 14:42, 20 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Foofighter, your new source is silent upon the subject of a tie: The important decision was between role-call and secret ballot. Since an odd number of Senators (49) were in attendance, there was no reason to consider a tie.  I do not doubt that 51 votes are currently required for election by the Senate, but if the split were 50-50, and the VP has a vote, the winner would still have 51.  It may well be that the Congress that passed the 12th Amendment didn't even consider the possibility, and given that legal scholars find ambiguity in such phrases as "President-elect", I am loathe to engage in original research.  The Republic has stood for 204 years without a definitive ruling on this point: Wikipedia doesn't need to weigh in. Robert A.West (Talk) 15:27, 20 September 2008 (UTC)
 * I'll indulge in a little OR of my own. The rule of legal construction is that the legislature does not intend to cause or permit mischief.  Suppose there were no majority in the Electoral College, and the Senate equally divided.  This is the situation most likely to produce an extended period of no-decision by the House: several states might cast no vote, their delegations being equally divided, and no one might be able to muster 26 states.  Under these conditions, having no decision by the Senate would leave the nation with an acting President under whatever law Congress may have provided.  For the Senate to allow the old VP to break the tie could be just the sort of face-saving measure that could help save the situation from chaos.  The Congress of 1804 included living memory of dangerous days following the Treaty of Paris, and I think it unlikely that they would have intended to increase the likelihood of deadlock.  The requirement of an absolute majority is obviously there to confer legitimacy on the result, and to ensure against a temporary majority due to the difficulties of travel in the day.  I would not edit the article to impose this view, but I wish to show that Foofighter's result is not the only reasonable one. Robert A.West (Talk) 15:45, 20 September 2008 (UTC)
 * How is Foofighter indulging in OR if he has provided a source (the U.S. Senate) which said, in the only instance of it choosing a Vice President, that "a majority of the whole number of Senators" is necessary to it making a choice. A source has been provided for the interpretation advocated by Foofighter and me. It is your turn, Mr. West, to provide a source for your interpretation. If you fail to do so, then it is you who is committing OR.
 * It is not necessary for your interpretation to be expressly prohibited by the Twelfth Amendment. If I say that in order to do X you do Y, that means that there is no other way to do Y. Note that the Twelfth Amendment says that "a majority of the whole number is necessary to a choice. If that is necessary, then no other logical way of choosing a Vice President that is available to the Senate. SMP0328. (talk) 23:52, 20 September 2008 (UTC)
 * You are pleading logical necessity where none exists, and reasoning based on your own interpretation of a primary source: that is one of the classic cases of original research. I, on the other hand, am recommending that we be silent on a point on which the secondary sources are unanimously silent, and I would oppose a statement that the VP can vote to break a 50-50 tie with equal vigor: it is absurd to refer to that as original research.  As I read the Senate's words, they work equally well either way.  If the interpretation were as clear as you say, why has no secondary source mentioned the point? Robert A.West (Talk) 00:42, 21 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Here is the source. Note that it says that "a majority of the whole number of Senators" is necessary to the Senate choosing either of the candidates. If it was possible for the sitting Vice President to have a role in making this choice, don't you think the Twelfth Amendment and the Senate in 1837 would have referred to that possibility. Logic, and a reliable source, are against your claim of ambiguity. SMP0328. (talk) 01:01, 21 September 2008 (UTC)
 * I have read the source multiple times. It parrots the Amendment, and is no more clear.  As to why it did not mention the possibility of a tie, note the role call on the next page: 49 Senators were present.  A tie being impossible, there was no need to consider the matter.  Also, Senators can generally count votes.  The decision being not in doubt, there was little reason to go into further detail.  In any case, I agree that the VP's vote, if it exists, can be exercised only be the unanimous acquiescence of the Senate.  Do you really think that if that happened, that any court would intervene?  Since the secondary sources haven't thought the matter important enough to mention, why is it so all-fired urgent for Wikipedia to mention it? Robert A.West (Talk) 01:11, 21 September 2008 (UTC)
 * After the 2000 election, you bet I believe the courts would intervene. SMP0328. (talk) 01:29, 21 September 2008 (UTC)
 * And maybe the Senators of the time were intelligent enough to realize what the words actually meant, so much so that they felt it didn't need to be explained since it was so obvious. Foofighter20x (talk) 05:57, 22 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Pissing off all 100 Senators, the sitting VP and most likely the sitting President as well? That is what the words "political question" were invented to avoid. Robert A.West (Talk) 01:37, 21 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Since when do the federal courts, especially the Supreme Court, care about pissing off anybody? SMP0328. (talk) 01:54, 21 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Actually, the Court has been very careful about stepping into certain areas. The judges are acutely aware that the Judiciary Act can be modified at any time.  Senators are very jealous of the prerogatives of the Senate -- it is probably the only thing that is still stronger than partisanship.  It only takes 67 Senators to convict in the event of impeachment: pissing off all 100 would be imprudent. Robert A.West (Talk) 02:07, 21 September 2008 (UTC)
 * You think the House would impeach federal judges, possibly even Supreme Court Justices, if they got involved in this area? Pissing off the Congress is not one of those "high Crimes and Misdemeanors." SMP0328. (talk) 02:28, 21 September 2008 (UTC)
 * High Crimes and Misdemeanors are what the House says they are. There is no judicial review of impeachments.  The charge would be something like "Overstepping the just powers of the judiciary."  Interfering with an agreed-upon political solution to an electoral crisis would be a far greater danger to the Republic than lying about oral sex in the Oval Office. Robert A.West (Talk) 03:08, 21 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Of course, I am assuming a political deal acceptable to 100 Senators. There is the possibility of allowing the 50-50 tie and then objecting to the VP's to vote with the intent of challenging it in the Supreme Court.  That would be a different kettle of fish, and I have no clue what the Court might do. Robert A.West (Talk) 03:26, 21 September 2008 (UTC)

(unindent) I put in what I believe is a neutral, factual account of the Senate rules adopted. It is likely that many readers will read that and end up agreeing with Foofinder/SMP0328, but we will not have expressed an opinion, nor (I believe) violated WP:SYNTH. Robert A.West (Talk) 01:23, 21 September 2008 (UTC) (addition) Of course, we all know that a future Senate could opt for a secret ballot, or a role call by states, or whatever. I am hesitant to mention that fact, as it might be interpreted as a subtle form of POV pushing.Robert A.West (Talk) 01:26, 21 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Thank you, SMP0328 for correcting my typos. You have had to do that a couple of times today. Robert A.West (Talk) 01:49, 21 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Just being neighborly. :) SMP0328. (talk) 01:54, 21 September 2008 (UTC)

Secondary source on point
It belatedly dawned on me that this issue actually was discussed by the press during the 2000 electoral deadlock, because the Senate would be 50-50. USA Today stated: But the new Senate, where each member gets a vote, is evenly split, 50 Republicans and 50 Democrats. Under the Constitution, the vice president serves as president of the Senate and has the power to cast tie-breaking votes. That would give Gore, who remains in office until Jan. 20, the power to cast the deciding vote for his electors — after Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, his running mate, had cast his vote. 

Now, this is not a legal scholar, but it is a respectable news organization that has legal scholars at its disposal. I would prefer something more definitive before stating that the VP has a vote in such case, but I think that this is sufficient to establish that we should not state that the VP does not have a vote in such case. Robert A.West (Talk) 02:53, 21 September 2008 (UTC)
 * This news article provides no source for its assertion. You claim we are engaging in OR, but the part of that news article you cite is OR. It doesn't even refer to the Twelfth Amendment. It appears the above quote is based on the assumption that the Senate's role in choosing a Vice President is identical to when it votes on legislation or a nomination. --SMP0328. (talk) 03:27, 21 September 2008 (UTC)


 * NOR and Verifiability apply to Wikipedia, not to our sources. Of course our sources do research all the time -- that is why we use them.  News articles rarely give citations, but they are treated as reliable sources unless contradicted by peer-reviewed articles, scholarly texts and the like, and even then they may serve as an indication that opinion is not unanimous. Robert A.West (Talk) 04:12, 21 September 2008 (UTC)

I read further in the USA today article. Legal scholars differ on whether the Constitution would allow Gore to break the tie on the choice of a vice president. That question might be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court as well.

I will note the difference of opinion and cite this article. That should close the question.Robert A.West (Talk) 03:15, 21 September 2008 (UTC)

Faithless electors tag
Since April of this year, there has been a tag at the beginning of the Faithless electors part of the Electoral College mechanics section. It says:

"This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards."

Is this tag legitimately placed? If so, what "cleanup" "may" be needed in order for the Faithless electors subsection "to meet Wikipedia's quality standards"? SMP0328. (talk) 00:53, 24 September 2008 (UTC)

The following text is repeated (roughly) in both the Faithless Elector section and in the Death or unsuitability of a candidate paragraph. Some consolidation may be in order.

>>In the election of 1872, Democratic candidate Horace Greeley did in fact die before the meeting of the Electoral College, resulting in Democratic disarray; the electors who were to have voted for Greeley split their votes across several candidates, including three votes cast for the deceased Greeley. However, President Ulysses S. Grant, the Republican incumbent, had already won an absolute majority of electors. Because it was the death of a losing candidate, there was no pressure to agree on a replacement candidate. There has never been a case of a candidate of the winning party dying.

In the election of 1912, after the Republicans had renominated President Taft and Vice President Sherman, Sherman died shortly before the election, too late to change the names on the ballot, thus causing Sherman to be listed posthumously. That ticket finished third behind the Democrats (Woodrow Wilson) and the Progressives (Theodore Roosevelt), and the 8 electoral votes that Sherman would have received were cast for Nicholas M. Butler. 64.221.15.66 (talk) 00:11, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

Calls for Aboshliment
Why isn't there a category for "Calls for Abolishment of Electoral College"? Until we see such a category one can assume this is merely a non-objective piece with zero credility in the eyes of the voters and readers of wikipedia. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.251.31.10 (talk) 16:22, 2 October 2008 (UTC)


 * There's no section so titled because calling for its abolishment is itself a reform preposal. Let me ask: if you abolished the Electoral college, what would replace it? How would one elect a president without a mode of election? As such, any call to do away with it is a call for a reform of the mode of election. There used to be a section covering all the reform proposals, but it was pared down (not by me) to only have the NPVIC as it's the only one with broad support and is well known enough to warrant discussion. Foofighter20x (talk) 16:47, 2 October 2008 (UTC)

"if you abolished the Electoral college, what would replace it?" What about the popular vote? It's already there. Let the people vote and be counted, because otherwise it's just a fix.--212.241.64.236 (talk) 09:50, 13 October 2008 (UTC)


 * you miss the nuance of my point. you can't just abolish it without replacing it with something. if you just get rid of it, that's abolishment. but then you have no constitutionally directed mode of election. it you replace it with the aggregate national popular vote, then you've REFORMED the mode of election. get it? Foofighter20x (talk) 14:42, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

Congressional District Method (CDM)
The praise for the CDM was unqualified. But in fact the CDM can either democratize elections or have the opposite effect, depending on the extent to which it's implemented. In the current scenario, from a purely mathematical perspective, Maine and Nebraska have done exactly the latter. With district electors canceling each other out, Maine and Nebraska will be giving their voters a disproportionately low share of national influence. What's kept CDM from having an undemocratic effect is merely that it's had NO effect. The many states would have to coordinate their CDM implementation for any positive effects to occur. I made changes accordingly. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tomblikebomb (talk • contribs) 20:56, 8 October 2008 (UTC)


 * I have reverted Tomblikebomb's edit, because the material he added was not supported by either of the two footnotes in that part of the article. If Tomblikebomb can find reliable sources for what he wants to add to the article, then his edit would be legit. For now, it's original research. SMP0328. (talk) 00:06, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

Second sentence: winner take all needs to be hyphenated. Dave69.107.132.195 (talk) 07:19, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

Historical Tallies
Shouldn't we have a list of the Electoral College results for every election? 205.160.23.2 (talk) 18:56, 21 October 2008 (UTC)


 * This article is about the Electoral College in general. For the results an individual Presidential election, go to United States presidential election, [insert year of election here]. SMP0328. (talk) 19:05, 21 October 2008 (UTC)

Discourages turnout & participation
The first line really needs to be reworded. "Because it does not matter how many people turn out to vote in a given state, the Electoral College eliminates any advantage to a political party or campaign for encouraging voters to turn out (except in the few closely fought swing states).[42]"

This would be confusing to someone trying to learn about the electoral college because it appears to contradict the article on how electors are decided. It would be better to say "Except in the few closely fought swing states, it does not matter how many people turn out to vote. The Electoral College eliminates any advantage to a political party or campaign for encouraging voters to turn out except in those swing states."68.215.247.90 (talk) 01:29, 24 October 2008 (UTC)


 * I've made the edit you proposed. Good catch. SMP0328. (talk) 01:44, 24 October 2008 (UTC)

I'm not sure that this section represents fact over speculation properly. Both of the sections "Discourages turnout and participation" and "Neutralizes turnout disparities between states" offer a speculative opinion without factual backup yet their unabridged existence in this article assumes both sections to consist of factual statements. These should probably be quoted, sourced, or begin similar to "Supports of the electoral college may argue" or "Supports of electoral college reform may argue". Cabbruzz (talk) 10:25, 13 November 2008 (UTC)

Contingent presidential election by House
It is unclear to me what exactly is required within a state's Congressional delegation in order to cast their vote. If a delegation is split between three candidates, will a plurality suffice? For example, if Connecticut's six Reps split 3:2:1, there is a plurality, no majority. Does CT cast its vote for the first candidate, or not vote at all? Boris B (talk) 16:51, 24 October 2008 (UTC)


 * The Twelfth Amendment requires, and the article states, a majority of a state's House delegation must vote for a candidate in order for that candidate to get that delegation's vote. A plurality is insufficient. SMP0328. (talk) 17:44, 24 October 2008 (UTC)


 * I think this is a logical interpretation, but neither the Constitution nor the article states this. The majority referred to in the article and the Constitution is more than half of the states in the union, not more than half of the representatives in the state. Only by extension of the implied principle of "majorities are good" do we learn anything about the number of representatives from a state required to cast that state's vote. I was asking about convention, not the Constitution, which is silent on this matter. Boris B (talk) 16:39, 29 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Whenever the Constitution doesn't say how many votes are necessary, a majority of those voting is necessary. For example, in Article I, Section 7, Clause 2 no mention is made as to how many votes are needed to pass a bill in each House of the Congress. That silence means a majority of those voting is necessary for passage. SMP0328. (talk) 18:36, 29 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Boris, in the circumstance you give in your question, the outcome would be that CT would abstain for that round of voting. They'd then have to talk it over amongst themselves to try and get 4 votes for one candidate before they can cast their state's ballot. Foofighter20x (talk) 01:28, 26 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Also, an abstaining state would still count for purposes of determining if a candidate wins in the House. The Twelfth Amendment says "a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice." SMP0328. (talk) 01:46, 26 October 2008 (UTC)

Incorrect term "ex-felon" should be edited
The article uses an incorrect term, "ex-felon". Once someone is convicted of a felony, they are a felon, even after they serve out their sentence or probation period. "ex-felon" is a faulty term. The only thing to which it could possibly refer is a felon who received a pardon for their crime(s), and in that instance, that person could vote. Either way, the term "ex-felon" should be replaced in the article with "felon". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 4.224.123.206 (talk) 01:26, 27 October 2008 (UTC)


 * You're right. Whoever put "ex-felon" in the article was probably referring to felons who had been released from prison. A person convicted of a felony remains a felon even if released from prison, unless that person is pardoned or the felony conviction is vacated on appeal. To correct this error, I have changed "ex-felons" to "felons". SMP0328. (talk) 22:02, 28 October 2008 (UTC)

I'm not raising issue with the word ex-felon being incorrect (it is), but the assertion that felons who have completed their sentence are still ineligible to vote is not a universal truth. Some states allow felons still serving in prison to vote. Other states will restore the rights of felons done with their time. Just something to keep in mind. Foofighter20x (talk) 01:15, 29 October 2008 (UTC)

2000 Election
Following the 2000 election, several Representatives challenged the inclusion of electoral votes from Florida, but the President of the Senate refused to consider the matter unless at least one Senator joined with them. Does Congress have any discretion in counting electoral votes? The Four Deuces (talk) 05:41, 29 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Those have been Congressional rules for ages, dude. It wasn't Gore or either party making up that rule, but both Houses agreeing to the rules ahead of time. Foofighter20x (talk) 14:53, 29 October 2008 (UTC)

Don't call me dude. The question was not what Congress should have done, but what they could have done. In 2004, a senator challenged the electoral votes from Ohio, while the President of the Senate was counting them, and then both houses voted on whether or not to accept them. Does Congress have any discretion in counting electoral votes? The Four Deuces (talk) 05:21, 30 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Ok, dude-ette, you need to check out Title 3, United States Code, Section 15. Love, peace, and chicken grease. Foofighter20x (talk) 23:04, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

1824 Election
The current page states that "Candidates can fail to get the most votes in the nationwide popular vote in a presidential election and still win that election. This occurred in 1876, 1888 and 2000." This is incorrect by omission. In the United States presidential election, 1824, John Adams lost the popular vote but still won the election. Please add 1824 to the list. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.161.41.3 (talk) 02:23, 1 November 2008 (UTC)


 * The 1824 election is mentioned in a footnote. It doesn't belong in the list, because six State Legislatures chose the electors directly. In those States, the people did not vote for President. That means the "popular vote" for that election consists of only a little over half of the States. It's not known how the people of those six States would have voted, so it doesn't belong along side the other three elections in which all of the States had their people vote for President. SMP0328. (talk) 03:07, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

For those interested, more about the assertion made in the footnote can be read here. Foofighter20x (talk) 06:01, 1 November 2008 (UTC)
 * A great quote about it is in the first paragraph. "The common interpretation [of the election of 1824] rests on three incorrect assumptions.


 * 1) that a popular vote winner could be ascertained in the election (and was cheated out of the office);
 * 2) that the 1824 campaign for the presidency was 'issueless'';
 * 3) and that the election's ultimate outcome was based exclusively on a political deal.
 * Cheers! Foofighter20x (talk) 06:06, 1 November 2008 (UTC)


 * Ah, thanks! It might be helpful to link to the footnote from that paragraph somehow, since to save on confusion.  I came across this when comparing my Politics textbook to Wikipedia, so someone else may make the same mistake in the future.  I appreciate the correction - I wasn't certain, so that's why I went for the Talk page rather than a direct edit.  Cheers!

Faithless electors
The elected officials that represents electoral areas MUST PLEDGE TO VOTE AS TO THE POPULARITY TO HIS/HER ELECTORAL AREA. IT IS NOT AN OPTION TO VOTE OTHERWISE. The way you describe electoral votes, it sounds like England and a parliament. Scarletdaisies (talk) 03:59, 5 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Actually, no, that isn't entirely true. They are indeed PLEDGED to vote a certain way, but they are not legally REQUIRED to vote that way. They can place a vote for Mickey Mouse if they so desire. Please read the cited sources for more information. — BQZip01 —  talk 22:27, 5 November 2008 (UTC)
 * You wish. Several states have passed constitutional amendments making it a crime to cast faithless ballots. Cumulus Clouds (talk) 07:21, 6 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Every four years, there are those who entertain the fantasy that the Electoral College will somehow overturn the results of the public election. You get the occasional rogue elector, but if they actually did overturn the election there would be hell to pay. It will not happen. Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? 18:36, 6 November 2008 (UTC)

1992
Why no mention of Clinton getting only 43 percent of the popular vote in '92? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.128.113.111 (talk) 07:03, 5 November 2008 (UTC)


 * Because this article's purpose is not merely to list facts. Is there some point you wish to make about the popular vote in 1992 that is relevant toward the purposes of the article? Foofighter20x (talk) 22:21, 5 November 2008 (UTC)


 * A lot of this is based on the mistaken assumption that the people, i.e. us individuals, elect the President. That's due to a misunderstanding of federalism and of the Great Compromise. It is not "the people" who elect the President, it is the STATES. The smaller states have a disproportionately high weight in the Electoral College, in order for them to have a chance to keep the bigger states from dominating the elections. Or, as someone I worked with in a smaller state put it, if we didn't use this system, "None of the candidates would ever come here!" Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? 18:43, 6 November 2008 (UTC)

Federalist 10
Someone added it under the background section, but I'm not sure exactly how it fits with the article as a whole. Foofighter20x (talk) 16:52, 5 November 2008 (UTC)

I added it and I believe it makes sense, in that the very purpose of the electoral college (one of the purposes) was to eliminate the possibility of a troublesome minority (a "faction") gaining control of elements of government by way of a Greek model "one man one vote" system. 203.73.69.56 (talk) 07:52, 7 November 2008 (UTC)


 * Ok, but is that your conclusion? Or did some other author come to that conclusion, publish it somewhere, and you are just paraphrasing it? If the latter, please provide the cite for the source you are using. If the former, then please remove what you have added, for the following reaon: if you are drawing your own conclusions, which is original research, you've specifically run afowl of Wikipedia's policy forbidding any synthesizing. Foofighter20x (talk) 15:54, 7 November 2008 (UTC)

Alternative methods...
I've got a reference for most of this entire section, but I'm putting this here until I can complete the edit in full and add the source. What I want is for this following matrix to be color coded with a key as to how each state selected its electors.

Only taking this through the founding to 1832, since after that, the only exception to statewide pop vote was SC.


 * Reference for this table:
 * Moore, John L., ed. (1985). Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections, 2nd. (Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, Inc.)
 * Cheers, Foofighter20x (talk) 19:48, 6 November 2008 (UTC)

Color code as you see fit... Looking for a four color key for the following methods: Pop Vote (by district), Pop Vote (at large), State Legislature, Hybrid. Foofighter20x (talk) 18:01, 6 November 2008 (UTC)
 * You need to explain a bit more clearly, what the letters stand for. Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? 20:03, 6 November 2008 (UTC)
 * That's what the key is going to be for, and why I want it color-coded... And why this is only a working copy that hasn't been put into the article yet. :) For the meantime: A- Pop vote at-large; D- Pop vote by district method; H - Hybrid form/Legislature contingency; L- State Legislature chose. Foofighter20x (talk) 21:20, 6 November 2008 (UTC)
 * It's interesting to see how it gradually evolved. It points out that as much as we like to think democracy was there from day one, it has actually been a gradual process. It could be argued that by 1832, the electoral college was no longer needed. Yet, there it still is. Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? 21:39, 6 November 2008 (UTC)

Colorwise, ideally I'd like: Anyone know how to make it so? Foofighter20x (talk) 06:31, 7 November 2008 (UTC)
 * A to be Selective Yellow background.
 * D to be Green background with White text.
 * H to be Copper background with White text.
 * L to be Sapphire background with White text.


 * See table. I do not know if there is a more compact way to code this. The table is now basically uneditable, but fortunately the contents are not likely to change :-) --KarlFrei (talk) 12:02, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

Moved the table to its own template, and added it and references to article. Foofighter20x (talk) 04:38, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

The Federalist #39
I recently added the text below with an additional point about Federalist 39, which I think makes a useful contribution to the discussion, and broadens the understanding of the applicability of this document to the electoral college institution. However, someone appears to have deleted it. I am wondering what the perceived problem is. 203.73.69.56 (talk) 07:51, 7 November 2008 (UTC)

The text was as follows:

Interestingly, there is something of a contradiction in Madison's argument in the Federalist No. 39, in that he states that in a republican government it is "essential to such a government that it be derived from the great body of the society, not from an inconsiderable proportion or a favored class of it; otherwise a handful of tyrannical nobles, exercising their oppressions by a delegation of their powers, might aspire to the rank of republicans and claim for their government the honorable title of republic." One might see the American electoral college as one such "inconsiderable proportion of a favored class" who "delegate their powers." Madison does go on to write that "It is sufficient for such a government that the persons administering it be appointed, either directly or indirectly, by the people..." The American electoral college is clearly such an indirect appointment of government officials. (Emphasis added; source: The Federalist Papers: Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay The New American Library, 1961).


 * I didn't erase it, but I can tell you why it probably was removed. Fed39 was about the nature of the proposed government under the constitution and not specifically about the EC. The conclusions the editor reached in the paragraph above ("One might...") is a pretty weak claim as it is, and seems to be more like editorializing/speculating on the part of the author. We're more interested in strong, published assertions that make a clear statement and case.  Also, again, without a cite of who made the conclusions that are interlaced in the quoted text, we have to assume they are yours, and are thusly original research. Foofighter20x (talk) 16:03, 7 November 2008 (UTC)

Frankly, I don't think this is a very strong argument. The themes in the Federalist Papers overlap in many ways, and when Jay, Hamilton and Madison discussed the various issues, they pretty clearly intended readers to be thinking about the connections among the different elements of federalism, constitutionalism, republicanism, etc. (The "nature of the proposed government under the constitution" as you say.) In this way, the reference to # 10 (after this reference to #39), which is also not necessarily "specifically" about the electoral college, seems to have been accepted by readers and/or other editors (I added this one too). I think the text of # 39, as I have presented it, can fairly be understood as connected to certain ramifications of the electoral college system (among, of course, other meanings and impact). As for citing who "made the conclusions," I see no problem--clearly they are the conclusions of the writer of # 39, which is believed to be either Madison or Jay. I have clearly cited the source in the parentheses at the end of the paragraph. There is no doubt here, and I think that there is no particular "editorializing/speculating" in what I wrote. I never intended to shape the paragraph that way, it is merely a brief explanation and enlargement of the discussion about the electoral college. To say that "one might" interpret the text in the way I present it is a very unobtrusive way of pointing toward a possible understanding of the cited text, and by no means is it "original research" nor truly a comment of "mine" (outside of the fact that, yes, I did write it). In sum this paragraph is nothing more than a reasonable possible interpretation that others might make. 211.74.12.239 (talk) 08:52, 8 November 2008 (UTC)


 * No, the statements of Madison in 39 are his own. No where in 39 did he directly mention the EC. In fact, the EC was addressed specifically in it's own essay. Any extrapolations you've made from 39 are your own and are synthesized original research. YOU are the one making the claim that the message was implicit, when it could have easily have concerned the nature of government in general. Find a cite that makes the same connections you have and you'll have a leg to stand on. Foofighter20x (talk) 17:08, 8 November 2008 (UTC)

I really don't disagree with what your saying--of course there are more explicit discussions of the electoral college, and its true that # 39 is not specifically about it. Note however, that a previous editor had brought in the use of# 39 in this article in the preceding paragraph--and nobody complained that it was not "specifically" about the electoral college. My comment merely expanded on this first use of # 39.

Just read the text: "essential to such a government that it be derived from the great body of the society, not from an inconsiderable proportion or a favored class of it." By "favored class" here the writer no doubt explicitly meant royal classes, wealthy landowners, etc., but my "interpretation" that some people could view the electoral college is such a "favored class" is not an unwarranted leap of faith--in fact that is exactly what many people claim about the institution, to this day. My comment on this is hardly a research note or some twice-removed extrapolation, it's just a touch of close reading, and I don't think think this forbidden in a platform like Wikipedia. My comment is less-than-obtrusive, and in submitting it I was quite aware of this necessity. It emerges quite reasonably from the text, implicitly or no. When he writes of "the great body of society" he is reflecting on the role such an entity will play in elections and government. That role, needless to say, is divided, sometimes direct and sometimes indirect--which he directly comments on in the following quote and which again, can be directly applied to various practical electoral principles. The inclusion of these quotes in no way muddled the description of the electoral college, and in no way was unbalanced, distorted, manipulative, etc. I have submitted perhaps hundreds of enlargements, clarifications and improvements to dozens and dozens of Wikipedia articles, and have had virtually none removed or changed before. I am very, very meticulous and academic, adhering the highest standards, and I feel that I was being so here. Who wields me, wields the world! (talk) 01:55, 9 November 2008 (UTC)


 * Your analysis of the plain language is still not enough to justify your conclusion for the purposes of putting it in the article without some pretty lengthy qualifications and discussion of opposing viewpoints. See the discussion above on the Contingent VP election where I got pegged for the same thing. It's original research. Foofighter20x (talk) 22:06, 10 November 2008 (UTC)

It's really no problem. After all, the objections to the EC are discussed in the article, which was my principal aim. Who wields me, wields the world! (talk) 02:54, 12 November 2008 (UTC)

2008 Electoral Map
Could someone insert into the article a map showing the winner of each state in this year's Presidential election? Should such a map replace the map showing the results of the 2004 election? SMP0328. (talk) 01:44, 9 November 2008 (UTC)

Done. Putting the 2008 cartogram in comment brackets until the resolution on it is restored so that each individual block can be seen. Foofighter20x (talk) 21:43, 10 November 2008 (UTC)

Faithless elector legality
The article's opening statement that "Electors are technically free to vote for anyone eligible to be President" seem to be contradicted by its own footnote, which says "many states have laws designed to ensure that electors vote for pledged candidates". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.227.171.214 (talk) 20:52, 10 November 2008 (UTC)
 * I will take a stab at this. In jolly ole Engerland, there was free speech yet punishment for libel, especially if the statement was true.  Free speech in that you could not be censored!  No prior restraint, but you must be ready to face the penalty for say insulting the King of Engerland. LaidOff (talk) 20:15, 16 November 2008 (UTC) eNGLAewNGERLANe
 * You get your occasional rogue elector, but if faithless electors tipped the results of an election, there would be hell to pay. It would be like United States presidential election, 1876 all over again. Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? 14:34, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

fl 2000 legislature
"Had the recounts continued, the Florida legislature was prepared to appoint the Republican slate of electors to avoid missing the federal deadline for choosing electors." this is misleading, as avoiding missing the federal deadline was not a material component in this. fl legislature intended to appoint a republican slate irrespective of the popular vote, as it had previously passed a state law disengaging the two.Data87 (talk) 03:06, 16 November 2008 (UTC)
 * The issue would be, if the Scy of State of FL sends in one slate and the State Legislature sends an autre slate. Then it would be a constitutional question of whether in its prior acts, the state legislature bound itself, in that it cannot change the slate or whether the choosing the method of selection electors is "just like any other legislaive act" in which case, no prior legislature could bind any future one.  LaidOff (talk) 20:18, 16 November 2008 (UTC)  Sinmce iyt has not yet happened, there is no legal precedent.  Let all the separation of pwers con law scholars dig right in. LaidOff (talk) 20:18, 16 November 2008 (UTC)
 * 2000 was a picnic compared to United States presidential election, 1876. Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? 14:32, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

2008
This may be a useful link in the see also section: List of United States presidential electors, 2008 Kgrr (talk) 14:23, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Improved Cartogram
J. Richard Gott and I (Wes Colley) have produced a cartogram which is superior to the one displayed on this page in that it is topologically correct, meaning that the states which touch in reality touch on the cartogram. Also, the shapes of the states are more consistent with the actual shapes. Our cartogram was published in journal Mathematical and Computer Modeling. We recommend that it be placed on this page.

It can be found here: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Final_2008_electoral_cartogram.png

MCM article: http://www.elsevier.com/authored_subject_sections/P11/misc/Gott_Colley_MCM.pdf

Wes colley (talk) 17:34, 19 December 2008 (UTC)Wes Colley

Introduction cutdown
I have pruned the Introduction. It was too long and more detailed than a Introduction should have. The Introduction still summarizes what is in the article. SMP0328. (talk) 03:24, 24 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Concur Foofighter20x (talk) 03:46, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

Untitled
See also: Talk:Electoral college

Alleged (but not actually) Factual Errors

 * "Each elector casts one vote for President and one vote for Vice President. In order to be elected, a candidate must have a majority (at least 270) of the electoral votes cast for that office. Should no candidate for President win a majority of the electoral votes, the choice is referred to the House of Representatives.[5] Should no candidate for Vice President possess a majority of the electoral votes, the choice is given to the Senate.[6]"


 * I'll refrain from making any edits, but this paragraph is technically incorrect. A majority is 50% plus one. While in practice, a two party system ultimately results in either a majority or a tie, the wording of the constitution allows for a plurality, where no candidate receives the majority, but does receive more votes than any opponent, and is therefore elected. This paragraph should be reworded. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.113.8.130 (talk) 23:46, 21 October 2008 (UTC)


 * The Twelfth Amendment expressly requires a person receive a majority of the electoral votes for President or of the electoral votes for Vice President, in order for that person to be elected to either office by the Electoral College. If no person wins a majority for the Presidency, the House of Representatives makes the choice; if none for the Vice Presidency, the Senate makes the choice. SMP0328. (talk) 00:10, 22 October 2008 (UTC)


 * "On September 17, 1970, a motion for cloture, which would have ended the filibuster, failed to receive the 67 votes, or two-thirds of those Senators voting, necessary to pass.[72] The vote was 54 to 36 in favor of the motion"


 * The vote to pass a motion for cloture is presently set at 3/5ths, not 2/3rds. I don't know if this constitutes a historical error, as the necessary super-majority may have been altered by the membership of the Senate over the years. I shall check the article on the filibuster, and see if I can come to a determination on this point. KevinOKeeffe (talk) 11:40, 29 November 2008 (UTC)


 * gee, don't you suppose it might have been a good idea to do that before posting here a claim of factual error that clearly is not a factual error? -- 98.108.198.236 (talk) 22:57, 18 December 2009 (UTC)


 * The article on the filibuster (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filibuster#United_States) seems to indicate that I was correct, and the cited 2/3rds super-majority constitutes a historical error in the article. I shall make the necessary adjustments. KevinOKeeffe (talk) 11:42, 29 November 2008 (UTC)


 * Amusingly, there is actually a reference (which I was able to read while in edit mode) about the the Senate reducing the cloture super-majority from 2/3rds to 3/5ths, so if there are any "necessary adjustments" to be made, it may be at the filibuster article. KevinOKeeffe (talk) 11:51, 29 November 2008 (UTC)


 * From 1917 to 1975, a two-thirds vote was necessary for invocation of cloture (pre-1917, cloture did not exist). In 1975, the two-thirds requirement was lowered to three-fifths. So on September 17, 1970 a two-thirds vote was necessary for invoking cloture. Source SMP0328. (talk) 22:15, 29 November 2008 (UTC)


 * There is an apparent miswording in the paragraph that begins with the words "Scenarios exhibiting this outcome . . ." Through context it is clear that the word "suppresses" in the final sentence of this paragraph should be replaced by the word "expresses" in order to make logical sense. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.17.127.176 (talk) 17:13, 11 July 2009 (UTC)


 * That paragraph is regarding the claim of Electoral College opponents that it overrides (or "suppresses") the Popular Vote. So the word should be "suppresses", not "expresses". SMP0328. (talk) 17:56, 11 July 2009 (UTC)

I think a lot of this article is inaccurate. Most of it presents points for and against state representation in an election, not necessarily for and against an electoral college. Keep in mind, without an electoral college, it can still be possible that states receive equal representation through congressional representation in the Senate. Please, I implore everyone to make this distinction and greatly revise this article. I believe it to be in great interest to all that this be done in the sake to prevent misinformation. I believe it to be that many people often blur the lines between these two inherently different concepts. Though state representation and the college of electors are undoubtedly linked, they are, in fact, not the same thing. I would invest more time into this subject if I had. But, please, research and revise the article. Rickman33 (talk) 19:07, 7 February 2009 (UTC)


 * Your comments don't make sense. "equal representation through congressional representation in the Senate"? What does that mean? Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? 19:14, 7 February 2009 (UTC)


 * If there is no more college of electors, we can still count votes as we currently do. If a candidate wins a state, he or she will receive a total tally according to the number of congressional seats for that state (electoral college or not). Even if a candidate wins a state by the slimmest of margins, the majority of residents of that state feel that candidate would be the best for the job and/or look out for the specific interests of their state. This is the idea of a federation. And hence, that candidate would receive all the votes/tallies for that state. But, what I meant by congressional representation in the Senate is that it's a continuation of the idea of a federation and the power of the states. By giving each state an additional 2 "tallies" for that state's senators, it provides each state with better representation in a national election. If there was no senate representation, a small state would account for only 1 vote compared to California's 53. That's 1.89% the amount of California's votes. With senate representation it's 3 to 55 (5.45%).


 * People have different lifestyles and ideals. Sometime this is a result of where they live, sometimes they choose to live somewhere because of their lifestyle or ideals. If we just went to a general popular vote (without state representation) some states would hardly be represented in the election because of low population density. The thing is, there should be extra consideration for that state's "way of life", and more importantly for the fact that it is a state in the union. This is one principle of state representation in a federation (in this case, as it relates to a national election). What I'm saying is that when a candidate wins a state why not just count the tallies? I'm not exactly sure why we have the electoral college layer between the popular state vote and the tallies represented by the number of state representatives (members in house and senate). I suppose it could be used somehow as a measure in case the candidate all of a sudden changes his platform at the end of a campaign or something weird happens (maybe the candidate dies). A "faithless elector" could also reflect a small minority of disenchanted voters (maybe also reflecting a state where the candidate didn't strongly win). I don't know- this is all speculative on my part and would require some research and more thought.


 * But, reiterating my point- each state votes for a pres and VP. Those candidates that win that state could receive those tallies that represent all that state's congressional seats without the use of an electoral college. I think that often times people say they want to get rid of the electoral college when what they actually mean is they want to choose the president & VP by national popular vote (not dependent on state voting). They often merge these two ideas when they are two separate things. Rickman33 (talk) 10:31, 12 February 2009 (UTC)


 * What you're describing would be the exact same result as the existing system, just minus the quaint trappings of the electors meeting and so on. And you're right that some people argue for getting rid of the electoral college and going to direct election. But don't forget what the point of the electoral college was. It was an extension of the Great Compromise that produced semi-proportional representation in the House, and equal representation in the Senate. The purpose had nothing to do with "lifestyles", it had to do with preventing the big states (Virginia, Massachusetts, etc.) from totally dominating the Congress, by affording the small states (Rhode Island, Delaware, etc.) the opportunity to form coalitions and such, and hold their own against the big states in the Senate. That's where the filibuster came from also - to prevent majority tyranny. If they had not made the Great Compromise, the small states would not have signed the Constitution, and we would have been more like Europe, a bunch of little nations instead of one big nation. The disproportionate high representation of states in the electoral college is for the same reason - it gives the smaller states a purposely disproportional voice in the matter. The public has forgotten the concept that it is "the states" who elect the President, not "the people". The practical effect of the current system is that candidates tend to campaign in many states. If it were by direct election, the small states would likely get ignored as the candidates would focus all their energies on the big states. That's the purpose of the electoral college system. And why bother with the electors? Well, here's another consideration: What if, between the day of the popular election and the electoral college voting, some information comes out about the President-elect that wouldn't legally disqualify him but which the public would likely not want in a President-elect. The system gives a theoretical opportunity to reject the President-elect. Your "automatic" approach, while retaining the disproportion theory of the electoral college, could result in being stuck with a bum for 4 years. At least the electoral college affords a "second chance" in light of any new information between November and December. Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? 11:00, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

Possible grammatical mistake
English is not my mother tongue, so I can be mistaken, but perhaps someone should check this excerpt from the article: "Given the year 2000 allocation of electors, it is possible a candidate could win with only the hair's width support of the 11 largest states."
 * It's kind of awkward phrasing but I don't see a grammatical issue as such. Although maybe it should be in past tense. Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? 06:18, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

I thought the phrase was "hair's-breadth." woodfold (talk) 19:41, 10 January 2009 (UTC)

2009 Date for Counting of Electoral College Ballots Needs Correcting
The main page is locked and I am not familiar with Wikipedia's methods, but the date for counting of the Electoral College ballots in 2009 will be January 8 and not January 6. See Library of Congress record of the House Joint Resolution in 2008 which set the date for 2009. Ozdachs (talk) 02:43, 6 January 2009 (UTC)Ozdachs


 * Ozdachs's link is dead. Here's a live link. The change has been made. SMP0328. (talk) 03:22, 6 January 2009 (UTC)