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The Electoral College was established by the founding fathers as a compromise between election of the president by Congress and election by popular vote. According to the electoral procedure originally specified in the Constitution, the electors were to vote for the two most qualified persons without specifying which was preferred for President and which for Vice President. The candidate receiving the greatest number of electoral votes, provided the votes of a majority of the electors were received, would be president, and the candidate winning the second largest number of votes would be vice president. The majority of the electoral votes, along with 270 electoral votes, are required to win the presidency. Each state is entitled to a number of electors equal to the total number of senators and representatives it sends to the U. S.
Congress. Thus, each state has at least three electors. Each state's allotment of electors is equal to the number of House members to which it is entitled plus two Senators. There is a major difference between popular and electoral votes. Popular votes are based on the population and electoral votes are the states' electors.
The candidate who receives the most popular votes wins all the electoral votes in a state. The other candidates get none. The electoral system was devised by the drafters of the U. S. Constitution, who hoped thereby to entrust the responsibility to people whose choice would be unaffected by partisan politics. It was also generally said that the Electoral System was put in place for 2 reasons: (1) to give more weight to the smaller states so their concerns wouldn't be ignored in national elections, and 2) to ensure that any successful candidate has wide national appeal, rather than having huge popular appeal in a few very populous areas and no appeal anywhere else.
The presidential candidates were Al Gore, representing the Democratic party, and George Bush, representing the Republican party. The "Florida" problem was confusing but simple at the same time. After first declaring Florida for Gore, then retracting, then awarding the presidency for Bush, then retracting, news organizations were left with a race "too close to call." Florida began a recount, and the Gore campaign criticized ballots in Palm Beach County as confusing. In the pivoted moment of the contested presidential election, the US Supreme Court remanded a Dec. 8 Florida Supreme Court decision that gave Al Gore a crucial victory and the chance for a statewide recount of Florida ballots. The problem with the electoral college in the election of 2000 was that Democrats have said that there were many instances of faulty voting machines, police intimidation, and registered voters being turned away at their polling places. Al Gore conceded on the evening of Dec. 13, and George Bush gave a victory speech an hour later.
George W. Bush was awarded presidency by a vote of 271 to 267.
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Research essay sample on Electoral College Election 2000
