The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-07-19

Popular and the Electoral V0tos
All the powers Of sovereignty in the United
States rest with the sovereign people, and yet
they do not elect their President or Vice Presi-
dent They think they do. but the nearest
approach the people can make under the con-
stitution to an election Of these officers Is in
the election, State by State, Of the agents by
whom said officers are elected and, taking the
will of the majority of the people Of the United
States as the test which should determine the
choice of their President and Vice President,
we see that it Is only in the chapter Of acci-
dents that these officers are in reality the
choice of the people-that man may by the
electoral colleges be elooted President with a
heavy majority of the popular vote OF the
Union against him, and that worse yet, man
may be constitutionally chosen President by
the electors for whom not one solitary vote has
been cast by the people
The national constitution provides. in the
election of President and Vice President: first,
that each State. as the Legislature may direct,
shall appoint o number of electors equal to the
whole number of Senators and Representa-
tives to which such State is entitled in Con-
gress second, that these electors shall meet
in their respective States (the electoral col
leges) and vote by ballot for President and
Vice President; third. that they shall make
distinct lists of the persons voted for and Of
the number Of votes for each, and transmit
said lists, signed and certified, to the Presi
dent of the United States Senate fourth, that
this presiding officer, in the presence Of both
houses Of Congress- shall open these certif-
Gates and that the electoral votes Of the several
States for President shall be counted then and
there, and the person having the largest
number of votes if majority of all the
votes cast, shall be President. Otherwise,
from the three highest persons voted for by
the electoral colleges the House Of Represen-
tatives, by ballot, shall elect the President,
each State in these elections being limited to
one vote A quorum for this purpose
shall consist of member or men,
bers from two-thirds Of the States, and
majority of all the States shall
such election shall devolve upon the
House, and it shall fail to make an election in
the interval to the 4th of March next follow
ing (and under existing arrangements these
elections come before the House about the 18th
of February, then the Vice President shall
act as President, as in the case of death or
other constitutional disability of the President.
In the next place the person from the electo-
ral colleges having the largest number of votes
for Vice President shall be the Vice President,
if his vote be majority Of the whole vote for
this officer cast by the electoral colleges. Other
wise from the two highest persons ON the list
from said colleges the Senate shall choose the
Vice President A quorum for this purpose
shall consist of two-thirds of the whole num-
Der of Senators, and a majority of the whole
number shall be necessary to choice.
These are the existing provisions of the con-
stitution in reference to the election of Presi-
dent and Vice President Originally the ordi-
nance was substantially that by each party in
the Presidential election as represented in the
electoral colleges two persons for President
should be voted for, and that the person hay
ing the highest number of votes from the cleo
tors should be President and the next highest
Vice President But in the Presidential cleo
ton of 1900 this plan resulted in difficulty
so serious and threatening that, to avoid
its recurrence, 1t was deemed necessary at once
to amend the constitution on this subject
Hence the amendment providing that the Presi-
dent and Vice President shall be each distinctly
voted tor by the electors. The difficulty re-
ferred to was this: The two federal Presi-
Dental candidates in the election of 1900 were
Adams and Pinckney; the two republican can
didates were jefferson and Burr. In count
ing the returns of the electors it appeared that
Jefferson and Burr had each 70 votes for Presi-
dent, Adams 65, Pinckney Ga, and John Jay l.
There being tie between the two highest-Jef-
ferson and Burr-the election of President was
carried into the House, and then followed q
struggle in that body so sharply contested and
so exciting as to threaten the government itself.
But on the sixth day of this contest in the
House, and on the thirty-sixth ballot, several
of the members who had been voting for
Burr withdrew their opposition to Jefferson
by voting blanks and the result was the cleo
ton of jefferson for President, whereby Burr
became Vice President But the narrow escape
of jefferson in the House, although clearly
indicated by the people and the electors sup
porting him as their choice for President, re-
suited in the amendment of the constitution as
it now stands.
Now, then, through very brief inquiry
as to how the constitution as amended
operates, how it has operated and may
operate in the election of President,
we shall discover how far the voice of the
people has been and may be overruled by the
electoral colleges or by the House Of Repre-
sentatives. First then, each State, as the
Legislature may direct, shall appoint num-