The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1878-04-13
The Electoral Count.

C1aC Unredteueu IL uurltlS lHe peH-
dency of the late Presidential con.
troversy there was no public demand
more urgent than that Congress
should at once turn its attention to
such REVISION of the laws covering
the electoral count as should provide
insurance against the occurrence of
another such delicate situation. We
found that neither the Constitution
nor the statutes were sufficient in an
emergency of the kind, and, while
the country accepted settlement at
the hands of the extra Constitutional
Tribunal established by Congression-
al enactment, it was universally felt
TIL it would not be wise to depend
for the future upon similar make
shift, and that the whole problem
should be determined by legislation
that would have permanent value
and force. 1t had, indeed, been long
foreseen by some of our ablest states
illSll lIldG Jul IllOuS vi clcCtluS
President and counting the votes was
unsatisfactory and liable to provoke
serious consequences, but Congress
could never be brought to an earnest
cons deration of the subject. The late
Senator Morton took great interest
in it, and for years past had, at each
session, suggested various plans ofre-
form and submitted measures design
ed to carry them into effect, but he
failed to persuade his colleagues to
do anything more than discuss them.
When this Congress met both the
House and the Senate appointed
committees upon revision ofthe cleo
toral laws, and not withstanding the
great Importance of the matter, they
have been singularly remiss and
trady in their duty of considering it.
The Senate committee has, we are
told, held but two or three meetings,
and out of them n othing practical has
come. The House committee has
been rather more diligent, and is now
prepared to submit proposition for
an amendment to the Constitution
intended to make the Electoral Col
lege the representatives ofthe will of
the majority of the peope.
This plan is simple and easily COM
prehenslble. 1t proposes that the
electoral votes and fractions thereof
of each person voted for as President
in any State shall be ascertained by
multiplying his entire popular vote
therein by the whole number of
electoral votes OF the State, and
dividing the product by the aggre-
gate popular vote of the State for all
persons voted for as President, and
the quotient shall be the number of
electoral vote and fractions thereof to
which such person shall be entitled,
using for such fractions three deci-
mails and no more. A little figu ring
will show the practical workings of
this method. Let us take, for in
stance, the case of Maryland at the
election Of 1876. Mr.. Tilden's vote
was 9l,779; Mr.. Hayes, II, $50; ptal,
$3.50. Multiplying Mr.. Tilden's
vote by THE number of electors to
which this State is entitled) gives a
product of 1874 232. Now divide this
product by the popular vote and we
get Quotient, the fractions being ex-
pressed in decimal thousandths, of
4.4S3, which would be his proportion
of the eight electoral votes. The
multiplication of Mr.. Hayes vote of
II ,980by s yields prodnct of 575 $40,
which when also divided by 163, 759,
shows a quOtient of 3.517, and this
would be Hayes proportion Of the
eight. The addition of the two quo
tients make exactly the eight. The
election returns used Ia this calcula-
ton are taken from the Tribune
al manac, and may not be officially
exact, but as we are merely showing
the process that is proposed, any dis
crepancy does not affect the explana-
ton. When the Electoral College
meets it would count the votes and
fractions of votes each candidate re-
ceived, and the one having the ma
jority would be declared elected.
1t will be seen at a glance that the
object of this plan is to secure minor
ity representation. According to the
existing system a minority in any
State is completely swamped under
the majority, which carries all the
electoral votes of that State with it,
while the Constitutional amendment
to be submitted would apportion
those votes according to the actual
numerical ratio prevailing between
the majority and the minority. 1t is
too soon to pass judgment upon it
yet, for we prefer to wait to hear
what will be said for and against it
when it is subjected to the analysis of
the constitutional lawyers in the