Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1936-09-24

Newspaper correspondents in Wash
ngton are being flooded with letters
asking questions about the presiden-
tlal election.
One OF the most frequent questions
asked by voters writing to Washing
ton is how it is possible for a Presi-
dent to be elected by less than a ma
iority vote. Another question is wheth-
er it might be possible for a Repub-
lican President and a Democratic Vice
President. or v~ice-versa, to be elected.
In National Election
What most OF these inquirers do MOI
quite understand is that nobody votes
directly for either President or Vice
President. Presidents and Vice-Presi-
dents are not elected by the people;
they are elected by the states, under
the Constitution. In each state the OPP
posing parties nominate presidential
electors, and ON Election Day the peo-
pie will vote not for Roosevelt and
Garner, or Landon and Knox, but for
the presidential electors nominated by
their respective parties. The number of
electors in each State is the same as
the number of Senators and Repre-
sentatives which that state has in Con-
gress.
II is this system of voting by states
for President and Vice-President in
stead OF by direct popular vote for the
candidates that made it possible for
ten Presidents to be elected who had
fewer than a majority of the popular
vote.
For example, Mr.. Cleveland, in 1884,
carried many states by very large ma
~jorities but his majority of the popu-
lar vote in New York State was less
than 1900, SO that although this gave
him 2 majority of the presidential ell
ectors, he had a minority Of the ma
tons popular vote. The same thing DC.
CURED when Mr.. Wilson was elected
President in 1912. In hat year, how
ever, the electoral vote was split be-
tween three candidates. Mr.. Taft and
Col. Roosevelt between them had
more popular votes than MI Wilson
had, but Mr.. Wilson got the majority
of the electoral votes.
The Electoral Vote
A question frequently asked is whe-
Their electors chosen on the Republican
ticket could vote for the Democratic
candidate. The answer is that ih-re Is
nothing whatever in the law to prevent
them from doing so. They are free
agents, chosen by the people of theh
state to vote for the candidate f0
President and Vice-President.
On November 3, as a matter of legal
fact, nobody will be elected President.
Only presidential electors will be chos-
en-, varying in number from New
York's AZ to the three each of Arizona,
Nevada and Wyoming.
The actual election of President and
Vice-President takes place when the
electors, chosen on November 3, have
met and cast their ballots. The Con-
stitution requires the electors to meet
in their several states and declare their
choice for President and Vice-Presi-
dnt. and the number of electoral votes
which they give to each candidate.
They must then sign, certify and trans
NIT their ballot, sealed. to the Presi-
dent of the Senate. who then, in the
presence of the Senate and the House
of Representatives opens these sealed
envelopes and counts the electoral
votes from all the states. The Presi-
dent of the Senate, who is the Vice
President holding over from the pre-
cedinp administration, then declares
who has been elected President and
Vice-President for the next four years.
In Case of Tie Vote
Another question often asked is
what would happen if the vote should
be a tie, or neither candidate mad a
majority of the electoral votes. In that
case, the House of Representatives
would have to elect the President.
One of the reasons whv the latest
amendment to the Constitution pro-
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