November 7, 2000 - General Election: The voters in each state choose Electors to serve in the Electoral College. As soon as election results are final, the states prepare seven "Certificates of Ascertainment" of the Electors chosen, and send one original along with two certified copies to the Archivist of the United States.

December 18, 2000 - Meeting of Electors: The Electors in each State meet to select the president and vice president of the United States. The Electors record their votes on six "Certificates of Vote," which are paired with the six remaining original "Certificates of Ascertainment." The Electors sign, seal and certify the packages of electoral votes and immediately send them to the president of the Senate, the Archivist of the United States and other designated federal and state officials.

December 27, 2000 - Deadline for Receipt of Electoral Votes: the president of the Senate, the Archivist of the United States, and other designated federal and state officials must have the electoral votes in hand.

January 6, 2001 - Counting Electoral Votes in Congress: The Congress meets in joint session to count the electoral votes (unless Congress passes a law to change the date).

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ON THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE

Who selects the Electors?

The process for selecting Electors varies throughout the United States. Generally, the political parties nominate Electors at their state party conventions or by a vote of the party's central committee in each state. Electors are often selected to recognize their service and dedication to their political party. They may be state elected officials, party leaders, or persons who have a personal or political affiliation with the presidential candidate. Then the voters in each state choose the Electors on the day of the general election. The Electors' names may or may not appear on the ballot below the name of the candidates running for president, depending on the procedure in each State.

What are the qualifications to be an Elector?

The U.S. Constitution contains very few provisions relating to the qualifications of Electors. Article II, section 1, clause 2 provides that no senator or representative, or person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector. As a historical matter, the 14th Amendment provides that state officials who have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States or given aid and comfort to its enemies are disqualified from serving as Electors. This prohibition relates to the post-Civil War era. A state's certification of Electors on its Certificates of Ascertainment is generally sufficient to establish the qualifications of Electors.

Is a vote for president and vice president meaningful in the Electoral College system?

Yes, within a state a vote has a great deal of significance. Under the Electoral College system, we do not elect the president and vice president through a direct nationwide vote. The presidential election is decided by the combined results of 51 state elections (in this context, the term "state" includes D.C.). A single vote helps decide which candidate receives the state's electoral votes. It is possible that an Elector could ignore the results of the popular vote, but that occurs very rarely. The founders of the nation devised the Electoral College system as part of their plan to share power between the states and the national government. Under the federal system adopted in the Constitution, the nationwide popular vote has no legal significance. As a result, it is possible that the electoral votes awarded on the basis of state elections could produce a different result than the nationwide popular vote. Nevertheless, the individual citizen's vote is important to the outcome of each state election.

Are Electors required to vote for the candidate who won his or her state's popular vote?

There is no Constitutional provision or federal law that requires Electors to vote according to the results of the popular vote in their states. Some states (24 plus D.C. at last count) require Electors to cast their votes according to the popular vote. These pledges fall into two categories -- Electors bound by state law and those bound by pledges to political parties.

The Supreme Court has held that the Constitution does not require that Electors be completely free to act as they choose and therefore, political parties may extract pledges from Electors to vote for the parties' nominees. Some state laws provide that so-called "faithless electors" may be subject to fines or may be disqualified for casting an invalid vote and be replaced by a substitute Elector. The Supreme Court has not specifically ruled on the question of whether pledges and penalties for failure to vote as pledged may be enforced under the Constitution. No Elector has ever been prosecuted for failing to vote as pledged.

Today, it is rare for Electors to disregard the popular vote by casting their electoral vote for someone other than their party's candidate. Electors generally hold a leadership position in their party or were chosen to recognize years of loyal service to the party. Throughout our history as a nation, more than 99 percent of Electors have voted as pledged.

How is it possible for the electoral vote to produce a different result than the nationwide popular vote?

It is important to remember that the president is not chosen by a nationwide popular vote. The electoral vote totals determine the winner, not the statistical plurality or majority a candidate may have in the nationwide vote totals. Electoral votes are awarded on the basis of the popular vote in each state.

Note that 48 out of the 50 states award electoral votes on a winner-takes-all basis (as does D.C.). For example, all 54 of California's electoral votes go to the winner of that state election, even if the margin of victory is only 50.1 percent to 49.9 percent.

In a multi-candidate race where candidates have strong regional appeal, as in 1824, it is quite possible that a candidate who collects the most votes on a nation-wide basis will not win the electoral vote. In a two-candidate race, that is less likely to occur. But it did occur in the Hayes-Tilden election of 1876 and the Harrison-Cleveland election of 1888 due to the statistical disparity between vote totals in individual state elections and the national vote totals.

Why do we still have the Electoral College?

The Electoral College process is part of the original design of the U.S. Constitution. It would be necessary to pass a constitutional amendment to change this system.

Note that the 12th Amendment, the expansion of voting rights, and the use of the popular vote in the states as the vehicle for selecting Electors has substantially changed the process.

Many different proposals to alter the presidential election process have been offered over the years, such as direct nationwide election by the people, but none have been passed by Congress and sent to the states for ratification. Under the most common method for amending the Constitution, an amendment must be proposed by a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress and ratified by three-fourths of the states.

What proposals have been made to change the Electoral College system?

Reference sources indicate that over the past 200 years, over 700 proposals have been introduced in Congress to reform or eliminate the Electoral College. There have been more proposals for Constitutional amendments on changing the Electoral College than on any other subject. The American Bar Association has criticized the Electoral College as "archaic" and "ambiguous" and its polling showed 69 percent of lawyers favored abolishing it in 1987. But surveys of political scientists have supported continuation of the Electoral College. Public opinion polls have shown Americans favored abolishing it by majorities of 58 percent in 1967; 81 percent in 1968; and 75 percent in 1981.

Opinions on the viability of the Electoral College system may be affected by attitudes toward third parties. Third parties have not fared well in the Electoral College system. Candidates with regional appeal such as Governor Strom Thurmond of South Carolina in 1948 and Governor George Wallace of Alabama in 1968 won blocs of electoral votes in the South, which may have affected the outcome, but did not come close to seriously challenging the major party winner. The last third party or splinter party candidate to make a strong showing was Theodore Roosevelt in 1912 (Progressive, also known as the Bull Moose Party). He finished a distant second in electoral and popular votes (taking 88 of the 266 electoral votes needed to win). Although Ross Perot won 19 percent of the popular vote nationwide in 1992 (United We Stand Party, which was the forerunner of the Reform Party), he did not win any electoral votes since he was not particularly strong in any one or several states. Any candidate who wins a majority or plurality of the popular vote has a good chance of winning in the Electoral College, but there are no guarantees.

How do the 538 electoral votes get divided among the states?

The electoral votes allotted to each state correspond with the number of representatives and senators each state has in Congress. The distribution of electoral votes among the states can vary every 10 years depending on the results of the U.S. census.

One of the primary functions of the census is to reapportion the 435 members of the House of Representatives among the states, based on the current population. The reapportionment of the House determines the division of electoral votes among the states. In the Electoral College, each state gets one electoral vote for each one of its representatives in the House, plus two electoral votes for its two senators.

Every state has at least 3 electoral votes because the Constitution grants each state two senators and at least one representative. In addition to the 535 electoral votes divided among the states, the District of Columbia has three electoral votes because the 23rd Amendment granted it the same number of votes as the least populated state.

If a state gains or loses a congressional district, it will also gain or lose an electoral vote. As a result of the census conducted this year, the number of electoral votes allotted to your state may change for the 2004 election.

What is the difference between the winner-takes-all rule and proportional voting, and which states follow which rule?

There are 48 States that have a winner-takes-all rule for the Electoral College. In these states, whichever candidate receives a majority of the vote, or a plurality of the popular vote (less than 50 percent but more than any other candidate) takes all of the state's electoral votes.

Only two states, Nebraska and Maine, do not follow the winner-takes-all rule. In those states, there could be a split of electoral votes among candidates through the state's system for proportional allocation of votes. For example, Maine has four electoral votes and two congressional districts. It awards one electoral vote per congressional district and two by the state-wide, "at-large" vote. It is possible for Candidate A to win the first district and receive one electoral vote, Candidate B to win the second district and receive one electoral vote, and Candidate C, who finished a close second in both the first and second districts, to win the two at-large electoral votes. Although this is a possible scenario, it has not actually occurred in recent elections.

Can citizens in U.S. territories vote for president?

No, the Electoral College system does not provide for residents of U.S. territories, such as Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa to vote for president. Unless citizens in U.S. territories have official residency (domicile) in a U.S. state or the District of Columbia (and vote by absentee ballot or travel to their state to vote), they cannot vote in the presidential election. Note that prior to the adoption of the 23rd Amendment, D.C. residents could not vote in the presidential election.

The political parties may authorize voters in primary elections in territories to select delegates to represent them at the political party conventions. But that process does not affect the Electoral College system.

What would happen if two candidates tied in a state's popular vote, or there was a dispute as to the winner?

A tie is a statistically remote possibility even in smaller states. But if a state's popular vote were to come out as a tie between candidates, state law would govern as to what procedure would be followed in breaking the tie. A tie would not be known of until late November or early December, after a recount and after the secretary of state had certified the election results. Federal law would allow a state to hold a run-off election.

A very close finish could also result in a run-off election or legal action to decide the winner. Under federal law (3 U.S.C. section 5), state law governs on this issue, and would be conclusive in determining the selection of Electors. The law provides that if states have laws to determine controversies or contests as to the selection of Electors, those determinations must be completed six days prior to the day the Electors meet.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ON ELECTIONS AND VOTING IN FLORIDA

What percentage comprises a majority win in a primary?

50 percent plus 1

How many voting machines must be provided to each precinct?

One voting machine shall be provided for each 400 electors in the county, except that in any county in which 25 percent or more of the registered electors are 60 years of age or older, the supervisor of elections must provide at least one machine for each 350 registered electors.

Where does a candidate, elector or taxpayer file if he wants to contest the election returns?

With the Clerk of the Circuit Court; must be filed within 10 days of certification of results or within 5 days after canvassing board certifies results following a protest.

Where does a candidate or elector file a protest challenging the election returns as erroneous?

With the canvassing board prior to the time the canvassing board certifies the results for the office being protested or within 5 days after midnight of the date the election is held, whichever occurs later.

Florida's Presidential Electors 2000

On September 1, 2000, each political party that is registered in Florida certified to the Division of Elections the names of their presidential and vice presidential candidates. Along with this certification, each party submitted the names and addresses of 25 electors. Each state is entitled to a number of electors equal to the number of members of Congress and Senators from the state. These electors that are nominated by the party take an oath to vote for the candidate on whose behalf they are nominated. In Florida, the presidential and vice presidential candidate receiving the most votes will be entitled to have his or her electors certified as members of the electoral college. The electoral college will meet in each state capital on December 18, 2000 to vote for president and vice president. These votes will then be certified to the president of the Senate who will officiate at the counting in Washington, D.C. on January 3, 2001.

LEGAL ASPECTS AND POSSIBLE NEXT STEPS

-- The recount was triggered by the state of Florida, which requires this procedure when less than one-half of 1 percent of the vote separates the candidates.

-- Florida's mandatory vote recount is being supervised by the Election Canvassing Commission, which is responsible for certifying the results of any election for federal or statewide office. The commission is made up of the governor (Jeb Bush), state secretary of state (Katherine Harris), and the state director of the Division of Elections (Clay Roberts). (Governor Jeb Bush, George W. Bush's brother, has stepped aside and will not be certifying election results.)

-- Election results will not be certified until overseas ballots are counted. Overseas ballots must be postmarked by November 7 and received by November 17.

-- Private citizens who have voted in the Florida elections and believe that their constitutional rights ("one man, one vote") have been violated, may file lawsuits in federal district court. Also, if there is an allegation of a violation of the Voting Rights Act, a lawsuit can also be filed in federal district court.

-- Candidates or private citizens who have voted in the Florida elections alleging voting irregularities, or that the "will of the people" was subverted, may file lawsuits in Florida state court.

BACKGROUND ARTICLE

Presidential Elections in the United States: A Primer (Congressional Research Service)

April 17, 2000

Kevin J. Coleman, Analyst in American National Government Joseph E. Cantor, Specialist in American National Government Thomas H. Neale, Analyst in American National Government Government & Finance Division

Summary

Every four years, Americans elect a president and vice president, thereby choosing both national leaders and a course of public policy. The system that governs the election of the president combines constitutional and statutory requirements, rules of the national and state political parties, political traditions, and contemporary developments and practices.

As initially prescribed by the Constitution, the election of the president was left to Electors chosen by the states. Final authority for selecting the president still rests with the Electoral College, which comprises Electors from each state equal in number to the state's total representation in the House and Senate. All but two states award electoral votes on a winner-take-all basis to the candidate with a plurality of the state's popular vote.

The process of electing the president is essentially divided into four stages: (1) the pre-nomination phase, in which candidates compete in state primary elections and caucuses for delegates to the national party conventions; (2) the national conventions-held in the summer of the election year-in which the two major parties nominate candidates for president and vice president and ratify a platform of the parties' policy positions and goals; (3) the general election campaign, in which the major party nominees, as well as any minor party or independent contenders, compete for votes from the entire electorate, culminating in the popular vote on election day in November; and (4) the Electoral College phase, in which the president and vice president are officially elected.

Presidential elections in recent years differ in several important respects from those held earlier in American history. The first is the far wider participation of voters today in determining who the party nominees will be; the political parties have in recent years given a much greater role to party voters in the states (in lieu of party leaders) in determining the nominees. The second difference involves the role of the electronic media and, most recently, the Internet, both in conveying information to the voters, and shaping the course of the campaign. Third, the financing of presidential campaigns is substantially governed by a system of public funding in the pre-nomination, convention, and general election phases, enacted in the 1970s in response to increasing campaign costs in an electronic age and the concomitant fundraising pressures on candidates. Thus, contemporary presidential elections blend both traditional aspects of law and practice and contemporary aspects of a larger, more complex, and more technologically advanced society.

For additional information on the contemporary role of the Electoral College, see CRS Report RS20273, The Electoral College: How it Operates in Contemporary Presidential Elections.

Electoral College

When voters go to the polls on election day, they actually cast their votes for a slate of Electors, who are entrusted by the Constitution with election of the president and vice president. The Electors are known collectively as the Electoral College.

The Electoral College in the Constitution

The question of the manner in which the president was to be elected was debated at great length at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. At one point, the delegates voted for selection by Congress; other proposals considered were for election by: the people at large; governors of the several states; Electors chosen by state legislatures, and a special group of members of Congress chosen by lot. Eventually, the matter was referred to a "committee on postponed matters," which arrived at a compromise: the Electoral College system.

Size of the Electoral College and Allocation of Electoral Votes

The Electoral College, as established by the Constitution and modified by the 12th and 23rd Amendments, currently includes 538 members: one for each senator and representative, and three for the District of Columbia (under the 23rd Amendment of 1961). It has no continuing existence or function apart from that entrusted to it.

Each state has a number of electoral votes equal to the combined numerical total of its Senate and House delegation. Since the size of state delegations in the House of Representatives may change after the reapportionment mandated by the decennial census, the size of state representation in the Electoral College has similarly fluctuated. The most recent House reapportionment and reallocation of electoral votes followed the 1990 census, in effect for the 1992, 1996 and 2000 presidential elections. Current electoral vote allocations are listed below.

Qualifications for the Office of Elector

Article II, section 1 of the Constitution provides that, "No Senator or Representative, or person holding an office of trust or profit under the United States shall be appointed an elector." Aside from this disqualification, any person is qualified to be an Elector for president and vice president.

Number of Electoral Votes by State: 1992-2000

Required for Election: 270

Nomination of Elector Candidates

The Constitution does not specify procedures for the nomination of candidates for the office of presidential Elector. The states have adopted various methods of nomination for Elector candidates, of which the two most popular are by state party convention, used in 36 states, and by state party committee, used in 10 states. In practice, Elector candidates tend to be prominent state and local officeholders, party activists, and other citizens associated with the party that nominates them.

A list of Elector candidates and those chosen as Electors in each state may be obtained from the secretaries of state (Commonwealth), at the state capital. Lists of Electors for 1992 and 1996 and other related information may be obtained from the National Archives and Records Administration's Electoral College home page at: http://www.nara.gov/fedreg/ec-hmpge.html

Selection of Electors

The Constitution left the method of selecting Electors and of awarding electoral votes to the states. In the early years of the Republic, many states provided for selection of Electors by the state legislatures. Since 1864, all states have provided for popular election of Electors for president and vice president.

General Ticket System

In 48 states and the District of Columbia, all electoral votes are awarded to the slate that receives a plurality of popular votes in the state. This practice is variously known as the general ticket or winner-take-all system.

The general ticket system usually tends to exaggerate the winning candidates' margin of victory, as compared with the share of popular votes received. For instance, in 1996, Bill Clinton and Al Gore won 49.2% of the popular vote, as compared with 40.7% by Bob Dole and Jack Kemp. The Democrats' electoral vote margin of 379 to 159 was a much higher 70.4% of the total, due to the fact that the Democratic ticket received a plurality vote in 32 states and the District of Columbia.

District System

Currently, Maine and Nebraska provide the only exception to the general ticket method, awarding one electoral vote to the ticket gaining the most votes in each of their congressional districts, and awarding the remaining two (representing their senatorial allotment) to the winners of the most votes statewide. This variation, more widely used in the 19th century, is known as the district system.

The "Faithless Elector"

The Founding Fathers intended that individual Electors be free agents, voting for the candidates they thought most fit to hold office. In practice, however, Electors are not expected to exercise their own judgment, but, rather, to ratify the people's choice by voting for the candidates winning the most popular votes in their state. Despite this understanding, there is no constitutional provision requiring Electors to vote as they have pledged. Over the years, a number of Electors have voted against the voters' instructions, known as the phenomenon of the unfaithful, or ?faithless, Elector.?

Although a number of states have laws which seek to bind the Electors to the popular vote winners, the preponderance of opinion among constitutional scholars holds that Electors remain free agents. Moreover, all of the seven votes of the faithless Electors between 1948 and 1988 were recorded as cast. The most recent occurrence was in 1988, when a West Virginia Democratic Elector voted for Lloyd Bentsen for president and Michael Dukakis for vice president.

Winning the Presidency The 12th Amendment of the Constitution requires that winning candidates receive an absolute majority of electoral votes (currently 270 of the 538 total).

Counting the Electoral Votes

Once the voters have chosen the members of the Electoral College, the Electors meet to ratify the popular choices for president and vice president. The Constitution provides (again, in the 12th Amendment) that they assemble in their respective states. Congress has established (in 3 U.S.C. 8) the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December following their election as the date for casting electoral votes, at such place in each state as the legislature directs.

In practice, the Electors almost always meet in the state capital, usually at the state house or capitol building, often in one of the legislative chambers. The votes are counted and recorded, the results are certified by the governor and forwarded to the president of the U.S. Senate (the vice president).

The electoral vote certificates are opened and counted at a joint session of the Congress, held, as mandated (3 U.S.C. 15), on January 6 following the Electors' meeting (or, by custom, on the next day, if it falls on a Sunday); the vice president presides. Electoral votes are counted by the newly elected Congress, which convenes on January 3. The winning candidates are then declared to have been elected.

A major criticism of the Electoral College is that it could deny victory to the candidate with the most popular votes, which can occur when one ticket wins the requisite majority of Electors but gets fewer popular votes than its opponent(s). Popular vote winners have failed to win the presidency on three occasions since adoption of the 12th Amendment: in 1824, 1876, and 1888. In 1824, the electoral vote was split among four candidates, necessitating election by the House of Representatives, which chose the popular vote runner-up. In 1876, due to contested returns from four states, Congress set up an electoral commission, which awarded the disputed votes to the apparent popular vote runner-up, resulting in a one-vote margin in the Electoral College. In 1888, the apparent popular vote runner-up won a comfortable Electoral College majority. Electoral College 'misfires' are listed below.

Presidents Elected Without A Plurality of the Popular Vote

Popular Vote Electoral Vote

> Elected

Electoral College Deadlock and Other Contingencies

The Constitution, in the 12th Amendment, provides for cases in which no slate of candidates receives the required Electoral College majority, a process usually referred to as contingent election. Under these circumstances, the House of Representatives elects the president, choosing from among the three candidates receiving the most electoral votes, with each state casting a single vote.

In the course of the usual presidential election, in which only the two major party candidates have a chance of victory, such occurrences are extremely unlikely. In those elections characterized by the emergence of a strong third party candidate (George Wallace in 1968, John Anderson in 1980, and Ross Perot in 1992), Electoral College deadlock is possible. Only once since adoption of the 12th Amendment, in the four-candidate election of 1824, was the president -- John Quincy Adams -- elected by the House of Representatives.

If there is no electoral vote majority, election of vice president is entrusted to the Senate, with each member casting one vote, choosing from the two candidates with the most electoral votes. Only once, in 1837, did the Senate so elect a vice president -- Richard M. Johnson. Although Democratic presidential nominee Martin Van Buren won a clear Electoral College majority, votes were cast for two Democratic vice presidential candidates, yielding a three-way contest requiring Senate resolution.

In the event contingent election is necessary, the House has two weeks between counting the electoral votes (January 6) and Inauguration Day (January 20) in which to elect a president. If it is unable to do so during this time, the vice president-elect, assuming one has been chosen by the Electors or the Senate, serves as acting president until the House resolves its deadlock. In the event the Senate has been similarly unable to elect a vice president, the speaker of the House of Representatives serves as acting president until a president or vice president is elected, but he must resign the offices of both speaker and representative in order to so serve. In the event there is no speaker, or the speaker fails to qualify, then the president pro-tempore of the Senate (the longest serving senator of the majority party) becomes acting president, under identical resignation requirements.

Further information:

Electoral College Homepage http://www.nara.gov/fedreg/elctcoll/proced.html

Federal Election Commission http://www.fec.gov/

Center for Voting and Democracy http://www.igc.apc.org/cvd/