VOTE
Continued from Page 1A
The delegates at the (institutional Convention
of 1 7H7 had sought to draft and sign a cohesive
Constitution since May 25. and by lat<» August
tension loomed large as several crises unfolded
Rivalries between smalt and large states and
disagreements about the structure of government
had ignited quarrels during the summer months
The delegates decided a federal structure fiest
suited the nation, mixing central!/,ed government
with state government The Connecticut Plan re
solved the conflict over representation by allow
tng for a bicameral legislature divided into one
house based on population and another Uised on
equality of the states
Despite settling these arrangements, danger of
renewing tension remained as the convention
mover! on to creating a means of selecting the
pres id ent
After considering several election proposals, in
eluding direct popular election, election by both
houses of the Congress and election by the Senate
only, the delegates reached an Impasse
Several opponents of direct popular election at
gued that the population lacked the awareness
and knowledge to vote for candidates unless the\
hailed from the voter's home or neighboring state
Others said congressional selection made the
president subservient to Congress and enr roached
on a separation of government powers
To break the deadlock, a committee was up
pointed to explore alternative methods James
Wilson of Pennsylvania proposed an Electoral
College plan in June based on congressional ap
portionment. The committee found it to !» a vi
able alternative and proposed the idea
In keeping with the federal nature of the gov
eminent and the Connecticut Plan adopted previ
eously, the delegates endorsed Wilson's lilts toral
College idea.
The endorsement came not from unanimous
support, but from compromise and pragmatism.
Kxtremo pressure to reach agreement pushed the
delegates to accept the alternative to the other
proposals that were stalemated at the convention
Problems arising from such a plan would not be
immediate because the delegates knew George
Washington would f>e chosen president regard
less of the system, and this lack of immediacy
suffered little st rutlny.
The system proved somewhat flawed in its first
trials Some changes in the lilectoral College ar
rangement thus evolved in the years after Its
adoption as problems presented themselves Ile
(iiuse of these developments, the framers' inten
tions were never realized
From the legislative caucuses of the 1 7'»t> presi
dential election arose political parties and recruit
men! of electors who pledged to support the par
ties' candidates
Before this development, electors had been re
one bound to commitment in turn, electors came
to he chosen not for their wisdom, but for the pre
dictability of their vote
A "faithless elector" emerged from these
changes as well Samuel Miles, a Federalist elm
tor in the 17<#> presidential election, voted for
Thomas Jefferson instead of Federalist John Ad
urns and c nused outrage in the Federalist party
A second change in the system resulted from
the development of national party politic s .is
well The framers accepted the system with the
assumption that the Kits toral (College would ac t
as a nominating agency, and the House would act
as a selection agency, but the House's rule sluftis!
instead to one of last resort in the c ase that no
candidate res eived a majority of the popular vote
Unless this happened, (ho Flee toral College was
the final |HJint of dec ision
Finally, the Constitution was amended to re
solve the framers' oversight in constructing the
system The framers had planned originally (or
the strongest candidate to liecnmn president and
the next strongest to become the vice president
Party politic s altered practic id application of this
bee ause tin- two were not always of the same phi
losophy, and in the case of the 1796 election the
two Adams and Jefferson were a< tuailv
quite hostile
As a result, the 17th Amendment was proposed
and ratified in UI74. requiring separate votes by
the elec tors lor president and vie e president
Despite these changes, not all of the systems
flaws have been smoothed ( Title s < all the system
undemocratic liec ause the w inner takes all" rule
gives all of a state’s votes to the majority w inner,
including those Intended for an opponent The
system also makes it possible for the loser of the
popular vote to win enough elec toral votes to In
come elected, as happened in 1666 when Benja
min Harrison defeated Drover Cleveland Clove
land won the popular vote, hut Harrison won
more electoral votes
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