On 3 November US voters will elect Members of Congress, Governors, a
raft of state and local office holders but they will not elect a new US
President. The votes cast on 3 November will determine the makeup of the
Electoral College.
On 14 December the electors of the College, meeting in their
respective states will vote for the next US President and Vice
President.
The Electoral College was created by the framers of the US
Constitution as an alternative to electing the US President by a popular
vote of the people or by Congress.
The framers of the US Constitution did not favour direct elections in
part because of a concern about large states dominating small ones and
in part because they were a patrician group with mixed feelings about
democracy: left to their own devices voters could elect a demagogue.
James Madison, “the Father of the Constitution” referred to “the
inconvenience of democracy”. Edmund Randolph who represented Virginia
spoke of the need for “sufficient checks against democracy”. Another
representative said that “the evils we experience flow from the excess
of democracy”.
Read more at:
A time bomb at the heart of the US presidential elections – EURACTIV.com
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