Twelfth Amendment

[Election of President & Vice President]

-Proposed by Congress on December 9, 1803; Declared ratified on September 25, 1804

"The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate; --the President of the Senate shall, in presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted; --The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President. --The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States."

I do not agree with the electoral college system of voting. Even though I understand the reasons for it, I do not think that it always the most fair system because it is not guaranteed to bring the popular candidate into office. Although there have only been three instances where the popular vote and electoral vote were not the same, I still think that that is too many times for the popular vote of a democracy to not be represented. 

 

 Electoral college process explained 

In 2000, Al Gore received 540,000 more popular votes nationwide than George W. Bush. But because he was short four votes from the electoral college, he was not able to become the next president. 

In 1876, Rutherford B. Hayes was the winner in the electoral college although he received fewer votes than his opponent Samuel Tilden. 

And in 1888, Grover Cleveland received more popular votes than Benjamin Harrison, but was again short of electoral votes. 

In the 2008 election, between President Barrack Obama and Senator John McCain, Obama received 365 electoral votes, and McCain 173. The popular vote was 69,456,897 to 59,934,814, respectively.