The Electoral College History Essay Research Paper

Electoral College in the Modern Times
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The Electoral College was established as part of the U.S. Constitution in Article II, Section 1. The Electoral College is n official group of people in charge of electing a President and Vice President of the United States. These electors represent a state in the United States of America, and the number of electors per state is dependent on the number of senators and representatives it has on the United States Congress. During the elections, people are voting for their preferred presidential candidate and vice-presidential candidate, as well as the slate of electors representing those preferred candidates (National Archives, n.d.).
In the majority of the states, there is a requirement that whoever candidates win the greatest number of votes should be the electors’ vote written on two ballots, one ballot for the president, and the other for the vice-president. There are also rules regarding electors of the same state, voting for the candidates from their state. Only one of the two positions can be allowed to be from the same state of the electors. (Clark, 1917). This is one of the government’s ways of promoting equality among the voting power of the electors and just opportunities for each candidate running for the position. The electors are also expected to follow through in voting for their pledged candidate as promised to the people of the state they are representing. If on any occasion they are not able to come through and was not able to vote for the specific candidate during the election, the state he is representing has the power to punish the elector with fines, and even jail time (Bensel & Sanders, 1979).
The electors are chosen using a two-part process wherein political parties per state can select potential electors before the election, while the members of the state can cast their votes for the electors during the general election. Before the general election, the electors themselves are also able to experience voting, but this time they voting for themselves if they would want to be part of the Electoral College, then if they succeed and is appointed as one of the electors of the state, they will now be able to cast their vote for the presidential and vice-presidential position for the United States of America (Bomboy, 2016). With this being said, the people of the state do not have direct power in voting and electing their president, because the electors would have that power. But the people of the state still need to cast their votes for the general election which gives the “popular vote”.
The scope of power of an elector does not have many restrictions but is based on the pledge that they give to their political parties and the bind that they have with the State Law. In history, there are 99% of electors who have followed through as pledged, and only a few who failed to vote their pledged candidates. These electors who failed are branded as “faithless electors” which will answer the State laws. The casted votes of the electors are still subject to the approval of the Supreme Court and for those “faithless electors”, they may be disqualifi...