“The Electoral College: U.S. Presidential Elections, How They Work”
by Phil Corso.
Power Kids Press, 2019, 32 pages, Grades 3-5.
Presidential elections are comprised on many events. First, candidates are nominated for office. Second, they campaign throughout the country for support. Next, there is a general election in early November. Third, the votes are tabulated and the winner of the popular vote is declared. The states then certify their votes.
Next, the Electoral College meets on the first Monday or second Wednesday of December and the electors cast their votes for the president and the vice president. Finally, since the mid-20th century, the votes are opened Jan. 6 beginning at 1 p.m. in the joint houses of Congress. Since there are 538 electoral votes, the candidate receiving 270 votes wins the election. The President of the Senate, who is the sitting Vice President, then announces the President Elect. Phil Corso discusses these issues in his timely book, “The Electoral College.”
Corso gives a detailed account of the history of the Electoral College. He includes passages from the United States Constitution to describe the composition of the College.
In Article II Section I of the Constitution, the states are authorized to appoint a number of electors that equals the number of senators and representatives from that state. Each state will receive two electors for their senators and the appropriate number of electors for their representation in the House. That number equals 535. The District of Columbia has three electors, which brings the number to 538. To win a majority of electoral votes, a candidate must therefore win 270 votes.
Most states give all their electoral votes to the winner of the popular vote. Only Nebraska and Maine allow their electoral votes to be split depending on the voting results. The electors from these two states vote for the candidate winning the popular vote in the district they represent.
The Jan. 6 vote count on the Electoral College before the joint houses of Congress is usually unremarkable. However, challenges to the Electoral Count have been made in a number of elections. Then the challenges are debated. Normally, these challenges are not sufficient to stop the process. If the winner of the election cannot be determined, the House of Representatives elects the president. This fortunately has been exceedingly rare in American history.
The author presents the complaints against the Electoral College and arguments for the continuation of the institution. A major complaint is the claim that the Electoral College gives small states too much power in presidential elections. This means that a president can lose the popular vote and win the presidency. This has happened five times in American history; 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016.
The argument for keeping the current system is that states with smaller populations will always have some political power. They will not be overwhelmed by states with larger populations.
A final issue discussed in the book is that of rogue electors. Though some states have laws forbidding electors from voting for anyone other than the winner of the popular vote, other states seem to assume that the electors will not go rogue. This has happened on some occasions when rogue electors voted for someone not on the ballot.
Corso closes his book with the thought that some people have suggested a constitutional amendment to limit the Electoral College. He points out however that such an amendment has very little likelihood of gathering enough support from state legislatures to pass. This is an excellent book to teach younger students about presidential elections and the Electoral College. It has interesting sidebars and valuable information. Some of the pictures of the Electoral Votes being carried into Congress are very interesting. I hope you get a chance to check out this interesting social studies book.
