Presidential+Election+Process

The founders of the Constitution set up a system called the electoral college to be used for the election of the President.

(From [])

"The **Electoral College** consists of the popularly elected representatives (electors) who formally elect the [|President] and [|Vice President of the United States]. Since 1964, there have been 538 electors in each presidential election.[|[1]] [|Article II, Section 1, Clause 2] of the Constitution specifies how many electors each state is entitled to have and that each state's legislature decides how its electors are to be chosen. [|U.S. territories] are not represented in the Electoral College. The Electoral College is an example of an [|indirect election]. The election for President and Vice President is not a direct election by [|United States] [|citizens]. Citizens vote for electors, representing a state, who are the authorized constitutional participants in a presidential election. In early U.S. history, some state laws delegated the choice of electors to the state legislature. Electors are free to vote for anyone eligible to be President, but in practice pledge to vote for specific candidates and voters cast ballots for favored presidential and vice presidential candidates by voting for correspondingly pledged electors.[|[2]][|[3]] The [|Twelfth Amendment] provides for each elector to cast one vote for President and one vote for Vice President. It also specifies how a President and Vice President are elected. The [|Twenty-third Amendment] specifies how many electors the [|District of Columbia] is entitled to have. The continued existence of the College is a subject of controversy. A 2001 [|Gallup] article noted that "a majority of Americans have continually expressed support for the notion of an official amendment of the U.S. Constitution that would allow for direct election of the president" since one of the first-ever public polls on the matter in 1944, and Gallup found no significant change in 2004.[|[4]][|[5]] Critics argue that the Electoral College is archaic, inherently undemocratic and gives certain [|swing states] disproportionate influence in selecting the President and Vice President. Proponents argue that the Electoral College is an important, distinguishing feature of [|federalism] in the United States and that it protects the rights of smaller states. Numerous [|constitutional amendments] have been introduced in the Congress seeking to alter the Electoral College or replace it with a direct popular vote; however, no proposal has ever passed the [|Congress]."