Electoral College: To Vote Or Not To Vote That Is The Question
...mechanism of presidential elections that was created by the framers of the U.S. Constitution as a compromise for the presidential election process. The Electoral College is basically, each state's popular vote determines which candidate gets all of the state's electoral votes. If a candidate wins by one vote or one million votes, he gets all of that state's electoral votes. The electoral vote count equals the number of Representatives plus the number of Senators. (Bonsor 2001) The Electoral College adds up the electoral votes in each state, if one candidate gets a majority (270 votes), he wins. On the Monday following the second Wednesday in December, the electors of each state meet in their respective state capitals to officially cast their votes for president and vice president. These votes are then sealed and sent to the president of the Senate, who on Jan. 6 opens and reads the votes in the presence of both houses of Congress. The winner is sworn into office at noon Jan. 20. Most of the time, electors cast their votes for the candidate who has received the most votes in that particular state, so they say.
If you are wondering how a person becomes an elector, let me tell you. The elector is nominated by his or her state party committee. The elector must campaign for a spot and the decision is made during a vote held at the state's party convention. There are some requirements for being a qualified elector. He or she can't be a Representative or a Senator, a high ranked U.S. official in a position of trust or profit, and it can't be someone that rebel against the United States. Usually electors are people that are highly involved in their political party. The electors are distributed among all of the states. Each state has a different number of electors: Alabama 9; Alaska 3; Arizona 10; Arkansas 6; California 55; Colorado 9; Connecticut 7; Delaware 3;...
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