How do states choose electors

The idea is to form an interstate agreement for states to appoint their Electors for the winner of the national popular vote rather than the winner in each state. Opponents say that the National Popular Vote plan actually defeats the state-based design of the Electoral College, could never be enforced if a state reneged on its promise, and is unconstitutional. Given the continuing polarization of American politics and background unhappiness with the Electoral College, it seems certain that the National Popular Vote plan and other reform proposals will continue to attract public attention and debate.

The creation of the office of the presidency at the Constitutional Convention in was one of greatest changes from the prevailing government under the Articles of Confederation. The Articles had no president or Supreme Court, only a Congress. The clauses of the Constitution under consideration for this essay outline four measures that were designed to promote an independent and responsible executive: the presidential selection system, presidential eligibility, compensation, and the oath of office.

The Electoral College established in Article II, Section I remains in effect, although it operates in a substantially different manner from what was originally envisaged. It is seldom observed that the Electoral College is the fourth national institution created by the Constitution, going along with the Congress, the presidency, and the Court.

Its aim was to govern the entirety of the process of selecting the president and vice president, from the initial function of identifying and winnowing the candidates to the final stage of electing these officers except when, for lack of a majority, the decision of choosing the president is given to the House of Representatives and the vice president to the Senate. The initial function of winnowing the candidates effectively escaped constitutional governance with the formation of political parties in the early nineteenth century.

This task, known now as nomination, is performed by the parties and by state laws and primaries. The Founders had four main objectives for the Electoral College. First, the Electoral College was created to provide the presidency with its own base of support. The plan was the alternative to another method proposed at the Convention, the selection of the president by Congress, which would have risked making the executive subservient to the legislature.

Second, the Founders sought to supply a basis of popular legitimacy for the president. The Electoral College, under which the Electors would be chosen either by the people or the state legislatures, was under the circumstances of the day a quite popular process.

The system, it was thought, would ordinarily hear the public voice. Third, even with this popular input, the Electors were still representatives having the discretion to choose among the most fit of the candidates. The Founders were especially concerned about the dangers involved in the selection of the president, and they counted on the Electors to block the election of a demagogue. No threat was graver than this to the survival of the constitutional system.

Finally, the Electoral College system was meant to channel the energies of the major political figures who had thoughts of achieving the highest office.

The Eligibility Clause establishing the criteria of eligibility for the presidency reflected two concerns. The first is to avoid the possibility of divided loyalty on the part of the president. As the president is the most important single official of the government and the one with the major responsibility for conducting affairs with foreign nations, a perfect fidelity to the nation, and to no other country, becomes an essential objective.

Even the public suspicion of divided loyalty can sap confidence in the presidency. The Founders accordingly required that, in the future, the president must be a natural-born citizen—that is, not an immigrant—and a resident in the United States for fourteen years before being elected—that is, someone who has not moved to live abroad.

Many have questioned this one difference that is created between the status of born and naturalized citizens. The second criterion of eligibility is the age requirement of 35 years, five years greater than that of a senator and 10 years of a member of the House. The higher age for the presidency was meant to increase the likelihood that the president would have acquired experience relevant to governing and, returning to the question of presidential selection, that the public and Electors would have a record for judging the candidates.

In fact, the minimum age seems to have undershot considerably what the American public has preferred. The youngest person to become president was Theodore Roosevelt, who ascended at age 42 to the presidency from the vice-presidency following the death of William McKinley. The candidate who gets votes or more wins. An election for president of the United States happens every four years on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

The most recent presidential election was November 3, The election process begins with primary elections and caucuses. These are two methods that states use to select a potential presidential nominee Nominee: the final candidate chosen by a party to represent them in an election.

In general, primaries use secret ballots for voting. Caucuses are local gatherings of voters who vote at the end of the meeting for a particular candidate. Then it moves to nominating conventions , during which political parties each select a nominee to unite behind. During a political party convention, each presidential nominee also announces a vice presidential running mate.

The candidates then campaign across the country to explain their views and plans to voters. They may also participate in debates with candidates from other parties.

During the general election General Election: a final election for a political office with a limited list of candidates. But the tally of those votes—the popular vote—does not determine the winner. Instead, presidential elections use the Electoral College.

To win the election, a candidate must receive a majority of electoral votes. In the event no candidate receives a majority, the House of Representatives chooses the president and the Senate chooses the vice president. Summer of the year before an election through spring of the election year — Primary and caucus Caucus: a statewide meeting held by members of a political party to choose a presidential candidate to support. January to June of election year — States and parties hold primaries Primary: an election held to determine which of a party's candidates will receive that party's nomination and be their sole candidate later in the general election.

December — Electors Elector: a person who is certified to represent their state's vote in the Electoral College. For an in-depth look at the federal election process in the U.

Before the general election, most candidates for president go through a series of state primaries and caucuses. Though primaries and caucuses are run differently, they both serve the same purpose.

Caucuses are private meetings run by political parties. In most, participants divide themselves into groups according to the candidate they support. Instead, the election of the president of the United States is a two-step process. First, voters cast ballots on Election Day in each state. In nearly every state, the candidate who gets the most votes wins the "electoral votes" for that state, and gets that number of voters or "electors" in the "Electoral College.

Second, the "electors" from each of the 50 states gather in December and they vote for president. The person who receives a majority of votes from the "Electoral College" becomes President. How exactly does this work? Under the "Electoral College" system, each state is assigned a certain number of "votes". There are a total of electoral votes, and the number of votes each state receives is proportional to its size the bigger the state's population the more "votes" it gets.

The formula for determining the number of votes for each state is simple: each state gets two votes for its two US Senators, and then one more additional vote for each member it has in the House of Representatives. So, get ready to do your constitutional duty," conservative radio and television show host Mark Levin posted to his Facebook page on Nov. Levin has hosted "The Mark Levin Show," a talk radio program, since the early s. Levin also hosts a show on Fox: "Life, Liberty and Levin," according to his website.

Some legislators apparently discussed the idea of overriding the popular vote in favor of Trump, Fox5 Atlanta has reported. Florida Gov. In September, The Atlantic magazine implied some Pennsylvania Republicans planned to directly appoint electors loyal to Trump. The state's Republican leaders denied the magazine's claims, according to the York Daily Record.. The desired outcome from substituting electors would rely on a conservative-leaning Supreme Court ruling "to settle any dispute over the move" in favor of Trump, the Associated Press reported.

In reality, legislatures are constrained to certain actions under the law. Electors are nominated by the political parties in each state according to rules established by state legislatures.

The number of electors by state is equal to the number of members of the House of Representatives plus two senators, according to Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution. A senator, representative, or a person holding an office of trust or profit cannot serve as an elector.