Commentary On Elections-Part Six (Session Two)

Commentary On Elections-Part Six (Session Two)

|All must read the first phrase in Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution.

"Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress;"

In this phrase, that document makes it clear that each State appoints the electors for President and Vice-President. Now all must read the following phrase pertaining to the choosing of members in the federal House Of Representatives.

"The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States". Yet currently the winning Presidential candidate in each state, through direct popular vote, decides who the electors will be. Therefore the winning Presidential candidate is allowed to take the law into his/her hands and choose at his/her discretion these electors. Any law passed by the state legislature must give the authority to choose these electors to either the state executive branch or to the People. No state legislature can create ad hoc law nor can it choose these electors on its own due to the fact it legislates on this specific matter (the state's choosing of electors). Legislatures are only supposed to pass laws, within the confines of the U.S. Constitution, that either unilaterally affect its activities or the activities of the executive and/or judicial branches solely. The legislature cannot pass laws affecting its activities that pertain to the activities of the executive and/or judicial branches of government. Otherwise that would significantly erode Checks & Balances and Separation Of Powers. Simply put, in this scenario, legislatures cannot make law that gives it lawful authority to choose electors in the executive branch of government. It cannot pass a law that allows it to be involved in the choosing of any official in another branch of government, either partially or exclusively. Moreover the legislatures cannot make any law that changes its constitutionally defined functions in its interactions with another branch of government. Only a constitutional amendment can do that. Finally electors must be chosen before the election and not after.

It is clear that the Founding Fathers, as expressed in the U.S. Constitution, wanted state governments to pass laws governing the choosing of these electors. However since government was "federalized" after the U.S. Civil War, one could argue that the present system is acceptable. If that was the case, why no constitutional amendment? After all, the U.S. Constitution was amended to change the way U.S. Senators were picked due to the "federalization" of government that took place a few decades earlier.

Finally the state legislatures should not be allowed to cede this authority to the candidate for President and/or Vice-President who wins that state. No candidate should also be allowed to choose the electors when it is the electors who are supposed to choose the President and Vice-President. That is analogous to putting the horse before the cart.

Cliff Notes Version: Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates were not supposed to be elected by the People according to the US Constitution. They were supposed to be chosen by electors. These electors were supposed to chosen as prescribed by state law.

Each elector casts his/her individual choice of candidate in the state capitol. That choice is later revealed in the actual choosing of the President and Vice-President in the nation's capitol.

No candidate should be allowed to choose the electors when it is the electors who are supposed to choose the President and Vice-President. That is analogous to putting the horse before the cart.