The Electoral College, part 2
Madison went on to discuss the significance of selecting members to each branch of the legislature and the executive:
"The House of Representatives will derive its powers from the people of America; and the people will be represented in the same proportion and on the same principle as they are in the legislature of a particular State. So far the government is national, not federal. The Senate, on the other hand, will derive its powers from the States as political and coequal societies; and these shall be represented on the principle of equality in the Senate, as they are now in the existing Congress. So far the government is federal, not national.
"The executive power will be derived from a very compound source. The immediate election of the President is to be made by the States in their political characters. The votes allotted to them are in a compound ratio, which considers them partly as distinct and coequal societies, partly as unequal members of the same society. The eventual election, again, is to be made by that branch of the legislature which consists of the national representatives; but in this particular act they are to be thrown into the form of individual delegations from so many distinct and coequal bodies politic."
The last sentence, obviously, refers to instances when there is a tie in the Electoral College. The election of the executive is then decided by the House of Representatives, with each state delegation having one vote.
The clear intent of the Framers in crafting the Electoral College was to give the states a voice in selecting the leaders of the country. The states were the bodies intended to elect the president, but as Article II, Section 1, Paragraph two of the Constitution makes plain, the state legislatures have the authority to determine the manner of selecting electors.
"The House of Representatives will derive its powers from the people of America; and the people will be represented in the same proportion and on the same principle as they are in the legislature of a particular State. So far the government is national, not federal. The Senate, on the other hand, will derive its powers from the States as political and coequal societies; and these shall be represented on the principle of equality in the Senate, as they are now in the existing Congress. So far the government is federal, not national.
"The executive power will be derived from a very compound source. The immediate election of the President is to be made by the States in their political characters. The votes allotted to them are in a compound ratio, which considers them partly as distinct and coequal societies, partly as unequal members of the same society. The eventual election, again, is to be made by that branch of the legislature which consists of the national representatives; but in this particular act they are to be thrown into the form of individual delegations from so many distinct and coequal bodies politic."
The last sentence, obviously, refers to instances when there is a tie in the Electoral College. The election of the executive is then decided by the House of Representatives, with each state delegation having one vote.
The clear intent of the Framers in crafting the Electoral College was to give the states a voice in selecting the leaders of the country. The states were the bodies intended to elect the president, but as Article II, Section 1, Paragraph two of the Constitution makes plain, the state legislatures have the authority to determine the manner of selecting electors.
posted by Hal | 1:15 AM
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