The History of the U.S. Election Process – Part 1

On Tuesday, November 8, the American people will vote for our next President, yet the actual winner will be determined by the Electoral College. How did the American election process evolve?

Back in George’s Day

Our first President, George Washington, elected in 1789, ran unopposed. His peers had to work hard to convince him to run, because he felt that honorable men did not seek office.

Election results were decided by officially-designated Electors from each state, each casting two votes. The candidate receiving a majority of these “electoral votes” would win the presidency, and the runner-up would be VP. In 1789, the majority of the Electors were chosen by the states’ Legislators.

This first election wasn’t quite as “democratic” as we might imagine. Some statesmen feared that John Adams, who was running for Vice President, would receive as many votes as Washington, embarrassing everyone who had put the election process in place. Alexander Hamilton arranged for some votes to be “deflected,” so that Washington was the clear winner.

For more details on early elections, check out this interesting article from the History Channel.

The Constitution and the Electoral College

Our founders were following the electoral process they had detailed in the Constitution. Then, only white, male property-owners could vote, but later Amendments to the Constitution have expanded voting rights to all citizens over 18. The Twelfth Amendment, ratified in 1804, changed the process so that the Electors cast one vote specifically for President and another for Vice President.

Article Two of the Constitution established the executive branch and the Elector College. At that time, each state determined their own method for selecting Electors, in equal number to that state’s number of Senators and Representatives. Each Elector was “pledged” to a specific candidate, presumably one that represented the popular majority vote within the state. However, that pledge was non-binding, so Electors’ were actually free to vote for whichever candidate they wanted. Now, Electors are legally mandated to vote according to their stated pledge.

In 52 of the 56 elections so far, the winner of the Electoral College vote would also have won the national popular vote. Constitutional amendments have often been submitted to replace the Electoral College with a direct popular vote, but none has ever passed.

Election Day and Inauguration Day

Presidential elections take place every four years, as originally stipulated in the Constitution. Since 1845, Election Day has been designated as the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. November was chosen because the harvest was in, but the weather had not yet turned ugly enough to prevent travel by horse and carriage. Tuesday was considered ideal because it allowed people to worship on Sunday, ride to their county seat on Monday, vote on Tuesday and be done before market day: Wednesday.

The presidential term begins on Inauguration Day, which is currently January 20. Until 1937, however, presidents were not sworn in until March 4 because it took that long to count the ballots and move the new President to the capital.

Be sure to check back next week for Part 2 of this historical overview, in which we explore election elements never mentioned in the Constitution – such as the evolution of the political parties, the primaries and the nominating process.