A common misconception among American is that when they vote they elect the President. The truth is not nearly this simple. What in fact happens when a person votes is that their vote goes for an Elector? This Elector (who is selected by the respective state in which a vote is cast) casts ballots for two individuals, the President and the Vice-President. Each state has the same number of electors as there are Senate and House of Representative members for that State. When the voting has stopped the candidate who receives the majority of the Electoral votes for a state receives all the electoral votes for that state (Hoar, 5). All the votes are transmitted to Washington, D.C. for tallying, and the candidate with the majority of the electoral votes wins the presidency. If no candidate receives a majority of the vote, the responsibility of selecting the next President falls upon the House of Representatives. This elaborate system of Presidential selection is thought by many to be an 18th century anachronism (Hoxie, 717), what it is in fact is the product of a 200 year old debate over who should select the President and why.
In 1787 the Framers, in their infinite wisdom, saw the need to respect the principles of both Federalists and States Righters (republicans). "Balancing the rights of the states in the senate and the rights of the people in the House of Representatives" (Hoar, 3). In 1788 the Electoral College was indoctrinated and placed into operation. The College was to allow people a say in who lead them, but was also to protect against the general public's ignorance of politics. Why the fear of the peoples ignorance of politics? It was argued that the people, left to their own devices could be swayed by a few designing men to elect a king or demagogue (McManus, 19). With the Electoral College in place the people could make a screened decision about who the highest authority in the land was to be (Bailey & Shafritz, 61); at the same time the fear of the newly formed nation being destroyed by a demagogue could be put to rest because wiser men had the final say.