Transcript Slide 1

Chapter 13
Section 3
According to the Constitution,
the President and Vice President
are chosen by a special body of
presidential electors.
 Originally, these electors each
cast two electoral votes, each for
a different candidate. The
candidate with the most votes
would become President, and
the candidate with the second
highest total would become Vice
President.

Only a few framers felt that the President should be
chosen by a popular vote.

Most people were not able to make a reasonable
decision based on that most people were scattered
across the country

The candidate with the most votes earned the
presidency while the second most votes went to the
Vice President.

Each state would have
many presidential
electors (like Congress)
2. Chosen by the state
legislature
3. Electors (meeting in
their own states) would
cast 2 votes each
4. Votes would be
opened and counted
before Congress
1.
5. Person with the
highest votes wins the
Presidency
6. 2nd highest goes to the
Vice President
7. If a tie, President
would be decided by the
House of Reps.
8. Tie for VP, the Senate
would decide the
winner
The electoral college is the group of people
(electors) chosen from each State and the District of
Columbia that formally selects the President and Vice
President. With the rise of political parties in 1796,
flaws began to be seen in the system.

•
•
All of the DemocraticRepublicans voted for
Burr and Jefferson
House had to take 36
separate ballots before
it elected Jefferson
• Election provided
1. Party nominations
2. Candidates pledged to
vote their party’s
presidential ticket
3.
Automatic casting of
votes in line with
pledges
 The 12th Amendment  The major change in
was added to the
Constitution in 1804
following the election
of 1800.
the electoral college
made by the
amendment was that
each elector would
distinctly cast one
electoral vote for
President and one for
Vice President.