ELECTORS, United States Presidential (as a body, termed the• Electoral College, a term informally used since about 1821, prob ably suggested by the College of Cardinals; 'college of electors* appears in the Act of 1845), the intermediate body for whom, and not directly for President and Vice-President, votes are cast every four years. As originally ordained they were meant to constitute a coun cil of the ablest men in the country, exercising an independent choice of a chief executive. The theory has never been fact for a moment, and since the third election not even a pretense; the institution is retained for very different reasons, and perhaps stronger ones. As a fact, the electors are only registers of the already pronounced party choice in candidates, and ac cept the office under a tacit pledge to act only as such. The electoral colleges are State bodies, and their integrity as such is scrupu lously guarded. They consist of as many mem bers as the State's representation in both houses of Congress; therefore a State cannot have less than three, and New York has 45. The method of appointment is left absolutely to the State legislatures. Till about 1820-24 they were appointed direct by the legislature in most States; in 1824 popular election had superseded this method in all but six, and by 1828 in all but one — South Carolina, which retained it till 1868. The district system, which divides the State's electoral vote, has some times been tried as a party compromise; but at present all parties prefer having all the State's electors on a general ticket. Each State appoints the place of meeting of its own deer toral college. Congress has fixed the time— the second Monday in January— to prevent a failure of any meeting through the refusal of a minority house of a legislature to join with the majority house in setting a date. The State, by act of 3 Feb. 1887, is made absolute judge of all disputes over appointment or re turns; its certificate is decisive between two sets of returns, and Congress can only inter vene if the State itself is unable to decide. But what is the State? This was precisely one of the questions before the Electoral Com mission (q.v.), and even the new act would seem to leave room for party decision as there; and no Electoral Commission would ever be possible again. In case of vacancy in the
electoral body, by death, resignation, refusal to serve or any other cause, the State may pass laws to fill it ; if it has no such law, that vote is lost, as happened in Nevada in 1864.
At the meeting of the State electoral col lege no organization is required; but it is cus tomary to organize and elect a chairman. Separate ballots (which remain the property of the State) are cast for President and Vice President• In the first three elections, each simply voted (as required by the Constitution) for two persons, one a resident of a differ ent State, without designating the office; the one with the highest vote became President, the next highest Vice-President. Obviously, as soon as parties gained firm organization, mere party loyalty would invariably produce a tie; and in 1800 Jefferson and Burr were so tied (see JEFFERSON-BURR IMBROGLIO), the resulting scandal and danger leading to the 12th Amendment, which obliges the electors to designate the office voted for.
The constitutional provision as amended in 1804 and in force now is as follows: 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 dis tinct 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 list 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 the pres ence of the Senate and House of Representa tives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted; the person having the greatest number of votes for President shall be 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 exceed ing three, on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President.