Article 2 Section 1-Presidential Election

[Phillipi27]

This section states that individual states must decide on “electors” which shall number up to the max number of allowed Congressman and Senators for each state, who must gather and each write down two names of two people for President. The results are then to be put into a sealed envelope and sent to Washington to be counted there. I noticed we don’t seem to do this anymore. Yes we have an “electoral college” but we do not have “electors” who vote on who they would actually want for President. I’m guessing the original idea was for people in these individual states to vote for “electors” who were the brightest in their respective localities and leave the choice of President up to them. Does anybody know what piece of legislation changed this procedure??

 

[Pericles]

Each cadidate submits his electors to the Secretary of State in each of the states and the DC. When you vote for president, you are actually voting for the slate of electors pledged to vote for the cadidate for whom you voted.

 

[Phillipi27]

Is that in line with the Constitution? If so where do you get this? Would not make more sense for each state to vote for the electors and then the electors to decide the candidates?

 

[Pericles]

Is that in line with the Constitution? If so where do you get this? Would not make more sense for each state to vote for the electors and then the electors to decide the candidates?

From working on Perot's 1992 campaign. After qualifying for the ballot, we submitted the list of presidential electors we wanted to the Secretary of State for each state. So, the people voting were really voting for the electors we selected, who if Perot won the vote in that state, would then be the electors from that state in the Electoral College.

Before there were state recognized political parties, people may have voted for electors, rather than a person, but I don't have any knowledge of that process.