Perth Amboy evening news., 1920-08-30
METHOD OF ELECTING
PRESIDENT UP AGAIN

ton starr
WASHINGTON, Aug. 27:-With
the approach of another presiden-
tial election there is revival OF the
talk of amending the constitution
so as TO do away with the electoral
college and provide for the election
of president and vice president by
direct vote of the people. 1t Is, Of
course, too late to make any change
in the present method of electing
the chief executive which would be
effective in the coming election. But
the very fact of the election being
at hand directs attention to the
electoral college, which may truth
fully be said to be a back number
Notwithstanding 1t still continues to
function.
1t is not unlikely that progressive
members of congress will seek some
such legislation at the next session
of congress, according to politicians
here. An amendment Of the con-
stitution providing for the direct
election OF the president and vice
president, 1t Is urged, would be a
companion-piece for the amend
ment providing for the direct cleo
ton of senators and for the women
suffrage amendment.
When people vote in November
Except in the cas- of Maine where
the elections are held September 10
this year, they will vote not for
Harding and Coolidge or for Cox
and Roosevelt. or any OF the other
tickets in the field. but for different
presidential electors put forward by
the various parties, in each Of the
states. Under the theory of the
trainers of the constitution these
presidential electors later assemble
and cast their ballots for president
and vice president, and these ballots
still later are counted by the presi-
dent of the senate in the presence
of both houses of congress. AS a
matter of fact-and this has been
true ever since 1796-the electors
placed upon the tickets in the vari-
Gus states have been pledged to this
or that candidate. and they have
kept those pledges. The result has
been that the electors are entirely
lost sight of in the campaigns and
in the elections, and only the an
didates are widely known. The
names Of the candidates are car-
ried at the top of the tickets, and
the voters know about them, pre-
sumably, : but nothing whatever
about the electors they actually
vote for.
Each state. under the constitu-
ton. has a number of votes in the
electoral college equal to the num-
Der of its representatives in the
House plus its two senators. There
are, therefore. a total of sci cleo
toral votes and members OF the
electoral college. 1t requires a ma
jority. or 266, to elect. II the total
electoral vote should be divided
among three or more candidates for
president, so that no one of them
had a majority, the election would
then be thrown into the House of
each state, no matter what its size,
has one vote. Only twice in history
has the election been thrown into
the House, the first time in 1900
when Thomas Jefferson was elected
over Aaron Burr, and the second
time in 1924 when. Andrew Jackson
had 80 electoral votes against 162
of his three competitors, John
Quincy Adams, w. II. Crawford and
Henry Clay. Adams was elected by
the House.
The argument that is most fire.
quently urged against the indirect
~method-the electoral colleges
that a president of the United States
may Oc CIlOScH WHO has MOI re-
ceived the majority or yer the
plurality of the popular vote cast
for president. In fact, a number of
presidents have been elected by a
minority of the popular vote, al
though they have received a major
ity of the electoral votes OF the
states. This happened in 1876 when
Hayes received 4,033,708 popular
votes against 4,2S5,992 for his OPP
ponent. Tilden; II happened in 1850
when Lincoln received considerably
less than a majority of the popular
vote-he had three Democratic
rivals in the ield-but received $50
electoral votes against 1913 for his
opponents. When President Wilson
was elected in 1912 his popular vote
was less than the combined votes
cast for Roosevelt and Taft.
The election under the present
system amounts to an election by
the states. The entire slate Of cleo
tors is chosen for this or that ticket,
almost invariably. This means that
so far rs any effect on the result is
concerned, the thousands, perhaps
hundreds of thousands of votes cast
for the defeated list G. electors and
the ticket they represent might just
as we'll not have been cast at all,
The contest in a presidential cleo
ton really centers in the doubtful
states. where the great parties are
pretty evenly divided, and is not ac-
tive in a state where there is a dis
tinct majority for either party. In
the latter states 1t really makes lit
tie difference whether the majority
be large or small.
The demand that the popular
vote for president shall prevail is
growing stronger, it is said. Repre-
sentative Schall, the blind repre-
sentative from Minnesota, has in
mind the introduction of a resolu-
ton providing for constitutional
amendment for a national direct
primary for the nomination of cam
didates for president and vice presi-
dent.