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WHAT IS THE ELECTORAL
COLLEGE?
The Electoral College is a group
of 538 individuals throughout the United States
who directly and formally vote for the President and Vice President of the United States as it is outlined in Article I,
Section 1, Clause 2 of the United
States Constitution. Each state is given a number Electors equal
to the total number of Representatives in the House of Representative and the
total number of Senators. In 1804, the
12th Amendment to the Constitution changed this slightly by having each
Elector cast one vote for President and one vote for Vice President (as long
as both individuals do not live in the same state) instead of casting two
separate votes for President. In 1964,
the Electoral College was further changed by allowing the District of Columbia three electoral
votes. Before this 23rd Amendment,
only states could have Electors.
HOW MANY ELECTORS DOES
MISSOURI
HAVE?
Beginning with the Presidential
Elections of 2012, Missouri
will have 10 Electoral Votes. Before
this, Missouri
had 11 votes. Due to the 2010 Census, Missouri lost one
Congressional House seat due to population changes. This affected the number of Electoral Votes
Missouri is
allowed to have in the 2012 election.
The new number of 10 Electors will remain the same until at least the
Election of 2024, where it is possible for the number of electors to change
based on the results of the 2020 Census.
WHO CAN BE AN ELECTOR?
According to Article II, Section
1, Clause 2 of the US
Constitution, any citizen who is not a member of Congress or holds an office
of trust or profit for the United
States government can be an Elector. This was modified by the 14th Amendment
(after the Civil War) that prohibits people who have engaged in insurrection
or rebellion against the United
States or given aid and comfort to its
enemies. Each state must submit to the
Office of the Federal Registrar a Certificate of Ascertainment confirming the
names of the Electors. This certificate
is generally sufficient proof of the qualifications of the individual
Electors.
HOW DOES ONE BECOME AN
ELECTOR?
Each state and the District of Columbia
will make laws that decide how Electors shall be chosen. In Missouri,
each political party will decide through its rules how potential Electors are
to be chosen.
According to Missouri
Statute, no later than the third Tuesday prior to each presidential election,
the state committees of each established political party within Missouri shall certify in writing to the Secretary of
State of Missouri
the names of its nominees for Presidential Electors. At least one qualified
resident of each congressional district shall be named as a nominee for
Presidential Elector by each state committee, and the number of nominees for
Presidential Elector named by each state committee shall equal the number to
which the state is entitled.
Currently, there are four political parties recognized by the State of
Missouri
which are entitle to submit a slate of electors.
After the General Election, and
after the Secretary of State of Missouri has certified the results of the
Presidential election, the candidate with a plurality of votes shall have
their slate of Electors chosen as the official Electors for the State of
Missouri in the Presidential Election.
WHAT DOES THE ELECTOR
DO ONCE CHOSEN?
In Missouri,
the Electors will meet at the State Capitol in Jefferson City on the 1st Monday after the
2nd Wednesday in December after the General Elections. There, each Elector shall cast one vote for
President and one vote for Vice President.
In Missouri, the winner of the state
general election for President is awarded all 10 Electoral Votes for Missouri (as well as
the Vice President). Many states
require by law that the individual Electors vote in accordance to the outcome
of the General Election. However, in Missouri, there is no
law that binds an Elector to vote for the candidate that they previously
pledged to their party to vote for after the General Elections. If this happens, these Electors are called
"Faithless Electors." To date, no Elector from Missouri has fit this category.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN THE WINNER-TAKE-ALL AND PROPORTIONAL METHODS OF AWARDING ELECTORS?
Currently, 48 states and the District of Columbia
have laws that allow for the winner of the General Election to receive all of
the Electoral Votes that state or district is permitted to have. This is called the Winner-Take-All
System.
Two states, Nebraska
and Maine,
have a different method, sometimes referred to as the Proportional System. In these states, the winner in each
Congressional district's popular vote receives one Electoral Vote. The winner of the statewide Presidential
election will receive an additional two Electoral votes (meant to represent
the Senators for that state). An
example of this split of Electoral votes happened in 2008 when John McCain
(R) won the statewide vote in Nebraska
but did not receive all the Electoral votes.
The 2nd Congressional District had a majority of people vote for
Barack Obama (D) and therefore Obama received one Electoral Vote to McCain's
four votes.
Missouri currently has a Winner-Take-All
System.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE
ELECTORS HAVE VOTED?
After the Electors have voted in
Missouri,
six copies are made and sent out to the following:
1. One copy sent to the President of the Senate (Vice President of
the United States)
(Joe Biden)
2. Two copies sent to the Archivist of the United States (David Ferriero)
3. Two copies sent to the Missouri Secretary of State (state officer
that oversees elections) (Robin Carnahan)
4. One copy sent to the Chief Judge of the US
District Court where the state capitol is a part (Judge Fernando J. Gaitan, Jr. in Kansas City, MO)
Attached to each copy is a Certificate
of Ascertainment, which certifies the names and qualifications of each of the
Electors.
On January 6, 2013, a joint
session of Congress shall meet in the House of Representatives with the
President of the Senate (Vice President) presiding. Tellers open, present and record the votes
for President and Vice President from each state in alphabetical order. The President of the Senate announces the
results of the vote and declares the winner.
The winners are the candidates with a majority of the Electoral Votes
cast. If an objection is made by
anyone in Congress, it must be submitted in writing and signed by at least
one member of each house. After the
objection, the two houses will split to their respective chambers and
consider the merits of the objection.
2008 MISSOURI CERTIFICATE OF
ASCERTAINMENT: HERE
2008 MISSOURI ELECTORAL BALLOT: HERE
WHAT HAPPENS IF NO
CANDIDATE RECEIVES A MAJORITY OF THE ELECTORAL VOTES?
Out of 538 Electoral Votes
possible, the magic number to win is 270 votes. However, if no candidate receives a
majority, then both houses shall immediately split up to their respective
chambers. The House of Representatives
shall vote among the top three candidates with Electoral votes to decide who
is President. Each state will have
just one vote. For example, the 10
members of the House of Representatives from Missouri
must vote as one, while the sole representative from Alaska has the power to vote solely for
their state. The Senate will vote on
the Vice President from the top two vice presidential candidates with
Electoral votes. Each Senator has one
vote.
HAS A PRESIDENT EVER
BEEN DECIDED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES?
Yes. Twice in American history has a
Presidential election been thrown into the House of Representatives.
1. Election of 1800: Thomas Jefferson ties for President with
his running mate Aaron Burr. When the
House voted to break the tie, there was another tie. It took 36 votes of the House to decide Jefferson as President over Burr by a vote of 10 to 4
(with two states voting without result).
This lead to a change in the Constitution (12th Amendment) to require
that the Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates run on the same
ticket.
2. Election of 1824: Four
candidates won Electoral Votes in this election, which led to no one
receiving a majority of the Electoral Votes.
The three candidates for consideration in the House were William H.
Crawford, Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams. Andrew Jackson had a plurality of Electoral
votes with 99 to Adams' 84. The House voted John Quincy Adams President with 13 state votes. Jackson had seven and Crawford had four
state votes, respectively. John C.
Calhoun was the running mate for both Adams and Jackson, so he had enough
Electoral votes to become Vice President.
HAS A VICE PRESIDENT
EVER BEEN DECIDED BY THE SENATE?
Yes. Once in 1836. The 23 Electors from Virginia voted for Martin Van Buren to be
President, however all of them became "Faithless Electors" to his
running mate, Richard M. Johnson. This
left Johnson one vote short of a majority to become Vice President. He was easily elected Vice President by the
Senate by a vote of 33-16 over Francis Granger.
It can be argued that Gerald
Ford became Vice President by the Senate by a vote of 92-3 in 1973, but not
as a result of a shortfall in Electoral Votes. Spiro Agnew resigned as Vice President,
allowing President Nixon to nominated Gerald Ford as Vice President.
HAS A PRESIDENTIAL
WINNER EVER BEEN ELECTED BY THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE WHILE LOSING THE POPULAR
VOTE?
Yes. Four times in American History:
1. 1824 - John Quincy Adams received 30.9% of the vote and came in 2nd in the
popular vote. He became President by a
vote of the House of Representatives.
2. 1876 - Rutherford B. Hays received 47.9% of the popular vote, but
won in the Electoral College. Samuel
Tilden is the only candidate in American history to receive over 50% of the
popular vote and not become President.
3. 1888 - Benjamin Harrison lost in the popular vote to Grover Cleveland by .8% but won
the Electoral Vote
4. 2000 - George W. Bush lost in the popular vote to Al Gore by .5%
but won the Electoral Vote
ELECTORAL VOTES (2012)
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California
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55
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Texas
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38
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New York
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29
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Florida
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29
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Illinois
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20
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Pennsylvania
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20
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Ohio
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18
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Michigan
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16
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Georgia
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16
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North Carolina
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15
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New Jersey
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14
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Virginia
|
13
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Washington
|
12
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Arizona
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11
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Indiana
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11
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Tennessee
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11
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Massachusetts
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11
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Missouri
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10
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Minnesota
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10
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Maryland
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10
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Wisconsin
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10
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Colorado
|
9
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South Carolina
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9
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Alabama
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9
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Louisiana
|
8
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Kentucky
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8
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Oklahoma
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7
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Connecticut
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7
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Oregon
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7
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Iowa
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6
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Kansas
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6
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Arkansas
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6
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Utah
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6
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Nevada
|
6
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Mississippi
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6
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New Mexico
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5
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Nebraska
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5
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West Virginia
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5
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Idaho
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4
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New Hampshire
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4
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Maine
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4
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Rhode Island
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4
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Hawaii
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4
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Vermont
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3
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South Dakota
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3
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North Dakota
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3
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Dist. Of Columbia
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3
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Delaware
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3
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Alaska
|
3
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Montana
|
3
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Wyoming
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3
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