Choosing Electors

[Online Professor]

 

 

THE ELECTION OF 1800 Revealing the Ugly Truth The United States was and Still is an Oligarchy of rich, white men
138 electoral votes of the Electoral College 70 electoral votes needed to win
Turnout Out of a population of 5,308,483 only 67,282 voted for either Thomas Jefferson or John Adams. The votes in that election were cast by less than 2% of the total population. So, the candidate elected only represented the 2% who voted not the 98% who didn't. Some were not eligible, some just didn't vote, but no matter, it is plain to see that it doesn't take a very high percentage of the people's votes to get elected.
Nominee Thomas Jefferson John Adams   Party Democrat-Republican Federalist Home state Virginia Massachusetts Running mate Aaron Burr Charles C. Pinckney Electoral vote 73 65 States carried 9 7 Popular vote 41,330 25,952 Percentage 61.4% 38.6%

Presidential election results map

Electoral College Selection Process

The number of electors per state was equal to their total number of members in the Congress of the United States.

The Constitution, in Article II, Section 1, provided that the state legislatures should decide the manner in which their electors were chosen. Different state legislatures chose different methods:^[21]

Method of choosing electors	State(s)
State is divided into electoral districts, with one Elector chosen per district by the voters of that district	Kentucky Maryland North Carolina
Each Elector chosen by voters statewide	Rhode Island Virginia
State is divided into electoral districts, with one Elector chosen per district Each county chooses an electoral delegate by popular vote Elector is chosen by electoral delegates of the counties within their district	Tennessee
Each Elector appointed by state legislature Method of choosing electors State(s) State is divided into electoral districts, with one Elector chosen per district by the voters of that district Kentucky Maryland North Carolina Each Elector chosen by voters statewide Rhode Island Virginia State is divided into electoral districts, with one Elector chosen per district Each county chooses an electoral delegate by popular vote Elector is chosen by electoral delegates of the counties within their district Tennessee Each Elector appointed by state legislature (all other states)	(all other states)