Before the adoption of the 12th Amendment in 1804, the electors voted for two persons without distinguishing between a vote for president and vice president. The candidate with the highest number of votes was elected a president and the candidate with the second highest number of votes became vice president.

Many people feel that the Electoral College is a good way of electing the president. One of the arguments for the Electoral College is that without the electoral college the president would be selected by the opinion of large metropolitan and populated regions. Another argument for the Electoral College is that it contributes to the two party system. This is true because it is almost impossible for a third party candidate to win enough if any electoral votes to be elected president.

Electors are selected according to the state's congressional delegation. The elect

------------------------------------------------------------------------

ors normally pledge to vote for the nominees of their party, but they are not constitutionally required to do so. When the American people vote for president and vice president, they are actually voting for slates of electors pledged to their candidates. The electoral vote of each state is cast as a unit and the victorious presidential and vice presidential nominees in each state win the state's entire electoral vote. The candidates receiving a majority of the total electoral vote in the United States wins.

Distributing the Electoral Votes would also benefit candidates form smaller parties. With the current system the smaller parties never win any votes and are seen as taking away votes from the bigger candidates.

One idea on changing the system is to distribute a state's electoral votes in proportion to voter support of candidates. Distributing the popular votes would eliminate the, "winner take all" theory, but many fear it might weaken the two party system. Many people think that the only way to change the Electoral College is to pass an amendment. The Electoral College gives proportional advantage to the smaller states making it unlikely to pass an amendment to take a

Some common words found in the essay are:
Electoral College, Electoral Votes, House Representatives, Article II, electoral college, electoral votes, vice president, electoral vote, electoral college system, president vice president, president candidate, popular vote, president vice, people feel, college system, votes elected president, president candidate votes, feel electoral college, pass amendment,
Approximate Word count = 847
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)