Electoral College

Electoral College, collective name for a body of electors nominated, elected, or appointed to vote for a particular purpose, usually the election of an individual to an office. The most outstanding modern example is the college which nominally chooses the president and vice-president of the United States. This group comprises the electors from the separate states who are selected by the voters in presidential elections. Each state is entitled to a number of electors equal to the total number of senators and representatives it sends to the US Congress, therefore at least three electors. The system was devised by the drafters of the US Constitution, who hoped thereby to entrust the responsibility to people whose choice would be unaffected by partisan politics. In practice, the modern domination of American politics by the Democratic and Republican parties limits the membership of the college predominantly to representatives of both parties. A vote giving no candidate a clear majority is resolved by Congress: the House of Representatives votes state by state to choose the president, and the Senate votes as individuals to elect the vice-president. Advocates of direct democracy often criticize this system, but no wholesale reform of the electoral college principle has yet been enacted. The electoral college system was also used in French presidential elections until 1962, when it was replaced by direct voting. Controversially, it was introduced by the Labour party in Great Britain in 1981 as a method of choosing the party leader, replacing the previous vote by members of the parliamentary party. The new electoral college incorporated representatives of trade unions and constituency parties.