The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1916-11-22
FUNCTIONS OF !.
Is. THE ELECTORS
States Were to Have Voice N
80 Choosing President.
HAs SOME 9|llslAl VA

a II
has Some N! DISADVANTAGES d 4 llIlll
system In Some Instances Gives Small
States Greater Proportionats Repre-.
ssntation In Electoral College Thar
Larger States Havs-Founders Sought
Only Men Of High Standing.
The electoral college, the reason for
its existence and its functions have
been the subject Of considerable dis.
! cussion during the election just held.
A great many questions have been
asked concerning this Institution, and
these are answered by the New York
Sun as follows: .tr =.
The idea Of the founders of the re-
public was to have picked men. re-
CARELESS Of political party. choose the
president. Accordingly they provided
III the constitution that each state
should appoint presidential electors "in
such manner as its legislature may
direct" 4..-4s,-ss H. a
It was the design Of the trainers of
our constitution to give the states, as
such, a voice in the choice Of the pres
ident, Accordingly they provided in
article III, section 2, that XIX ~
Each state shall appoint =" a
number Of electors equal to the whole
number of senators and representa-
tives to which the state may be enti-
tied in the congress" g --e a
This gave to the smaller states a rep
resentation among the electors greater
than would have been theirs had pop
ulation alone been consulted. 1t is fol-
lowed today by allotting to each state
as many electors as it has senators
and representatives combined. Thus
New York has two senators and forty
three representatives. and therefore
forty-five presidential electors. Rhode
Island has two senators. three con-
gressmen and five presidential electors.
Yet the population Of New York is not
nine, but eighteen times that Of Rhode
are the states voice in the choice Of
a president, as distinguished from the
voice Of the people, though the utter
ance may be the same.
The First Election.
In the first election OF a president In
1850 there were attempts to hold pop
ular elections in New Hampshire, Mas
-sac.lusetts.' Pennsylvania; Maryland
and Virginia. but the choice OF, electors
was finally made by the legislatures Of
these states. Rhode Island and North
Carolina had not yet ratified the con-
stitution, IN New York the legislature
quarreled too long about the question
Of ratification, SO that these three
states failed that year to choose presi-
Dental electors.
Every one had Washington in mind
for the presidency, but he was not
nominated in the modern sense at all.
When the electors assembled each cleo
tor cast two votes. not distinguishing
one as for president and the other as
for vice president. There were sixty
nine electors, and each cast one vote
for Washington. OF the other sixty
nine votes John Adams had thirty
four, John Jay had nine and the rest
were scattered. Washington was &C.
cordingly declared president and John
Adams vice president e..
In 179G there were for the first time
two distinctly declared and opposing
candidates for the observation-disclosures
and Jefferson. Adams received II
votes and Jefferson 6S. Thus Jcffer-
son became vice president NPennsyl-
yania, Maryland, Virginia and North
Carolina cast divided electoral votes,
Even in Jefferson's home state there
was an electoral vote for Adams, al
though Virginia was strongly Jeffer-
Sonian. The fine theory Of the fathers
that the electors could and should act
independently Of popular preference
did not survive this political strain.
Electors Arc Tied.
In 1901 a fresh difficulty arose.
jefferson and Burr each received sew
enty-three votes Of the electors and
were tied for the presidency. Now
Burr had not been seriously thought
Of for the presidency. The votes cast
for him had been intended to insure
him second place. THE contest had
been regarded solely as between JEFF
ferson and Adams. But Burr had per-
mitted the use Of his name as q candi-
data orofpst ToffopSOO ,r'.
This muddle. ultimately resolved in
favor Of Jefferson by the house of
representatives, ended the business of
having the electors vote only for pres
ident. with the vice presidency falling
to the man whose vote stood second.
Thereafter votes. We're cast distinctly
for president and for vice president.
as is done today. "N ..~lT..y"
The electors of the present will be
seen to be entirely different persons
from those the founders of this coun-
try had in mind. The electors are
now as completely responsive to the
popular will as is possible without the
entire removal Of state boundaries in
presidential elections. Were these
boundaries to be dsregarded there
would be no further use for prcs:dcn-
tial electors, and the po511a- vote
would decide the issue. ...,
And that is what the nation will
have when by the process Of constitu-
tibnal amendment the element Of state