Friday, March 29, 1968
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
3
Long dispute over electoral votes
(Editor's note: This article is part of a series dealing with the 1968 presidential race and the election process.)
By Jane Abildgaard Kansan Staff Reporter
Every presidential election year the Electoral College becomes the center of controversy.
The way the Electoral College was set up in the United States Constitution, a candidate could win the presidency with less than 25 per cent of the nation's popular vote by carrying only 12 states by a thin margin.
It is understandable that presidential campaigns center in the states with the largest number of electoral votes, such as California, New York, Pennsylvania and Illinois.
The number of electors a state has shall be "equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the state may be entitled in Congress, according to Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution.
A number of Constitutional amendments have been proposed to alleviate the problem of the
electoral system. None have ever been passed.
Four methods of revamping the system seem to be most popular.
One amendment recently pending in Congress is the proposal to do away with the elector's right of choice. The candidate receiving the largest number of popular votes in a state would receive that state's entire electoral vote. Under the present system, the electors may vote however they choose, regardless of their state's vote. This plan has been in Congress for years, having first been introduced in the Senate by John F. Kennedy in 1956.
The district plan amendment would make the electors chosen in the same manner as the Congressmen—two on a statewide basis and the others by Congressional districts. Under this plan the electors would be legally bound to vote for the candidate for whom they were chosen. This suggestion has been before Congress since prior to the 1964 elections.
A third proposed amendment would eliminate the electors entirely. The direct popular vote
would be counted as cast and the electoral vote divided proportional to the popular vote. This proposal was first introduced in the Senate by Henry Cabot Lodge in 1948. In 1950, it passed the Senate 64-27 but failed in the House of Representatives. It was again before the Senate in 1956.
The fourth plan is simply to use only the popular vote and abolish the electoral college.
However, the electoral system set up in the late 18th Century is still in use. The electors will meet in their respective states after the national election and vote by ballot for president and the vice-president, designating which office on the ballot. Under the Constitution, at least one of the two candidates cannot be a resident of the elector's state.
After voting, the electors make a tally list of those candidates receiving votes and the number of votes each received, sign and certify the list and send it to the president of the Senate. He is to open and count the votes before a joint session of Congress.
in the House although Andrew Jackson had won a plurality of both popular and electoral voting.
The candidate receiving a majority of the votes is designated president-elect. If no one has a majority, the election goes to the House of Representatives. In the House, votes are taken by states with each state's representation having one vote.
There have been times in history when the man inaugurated president was beaten in the popular vote, but won a majority of electoral votes.
The most notorious case is that of Republican Rutherford B. Hayes' election in 1876. Hayes won 250,000 popular votes less than Samuel J. Tilden, Democratic governor of New York. However, the electoral vote showed Hayes the victor by a vote of 185 to 184.
In the first vote in that election, Tilden came out 184 to Hayes 165, but Oregon, South Carolina, Florida and Louisiana each sent in two sets of ballots, one for Tilden and one for Hayes—none of which were counted.
In Oregon, the Democratic governor had dismissed one elector and certified a Democrat in his place. In the Southern states, the Republican election boards claimed voting irregularities and threw out the Tilden votes.
The hassle was sent to Congress. The House counted the disputed electoral votes for Tilden, while the Senate counted them for Hayes. Finally, Congress appointed an electoral commission to decide the election. Thus, Hayes was declared victor.
One reason the Founding Fathers set up the electoral system was to protect the people from a fraudulent election in which the people's choice would not be elected. According to the system's critics, the electoral college has failed to meet this need.
Regardless of any action taken now to improve the system, the present Electoral College method will elect the President in 1868.
Next: the absentee ballot.
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The House has chosen the president and vice-president four times. The first time was 1800 when Thomas Jefferson was chosen over Aaron Burr. In 1824 John Quincy Adams was selected
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