Unbiased University: Presidential Elections and the Electoral College Explained
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Welcome back to Unbiased, your favorite source of unbiased news and legal analysis. Welcome back to Unbiased Politics and to the Unbiased University series. This episode is all about presidential elections in the United States. Did you know that a 2023 Pew Research study found that only 40% of Americans... know who chooses the president if the Electoral College is tied. An older 2008 study found that only 43% of Americans knew that the Electoral College is a constitutionally mandated assembly that elects the president. The other 57% did not know what the Electoral College is. Did you also know that when you cast a ballot at the poll, you are actually casting a ballot for a slate of electors rather than the actual presidential candidate?
There is a lot that the average American does not know, so today we are going to make sure you know everything that you should. Now, I say this at the beginning of every episode, but in this Unbiased University series, my goal and the way I designed it is that it functions as a condensed law school education, okay? I want you to imagine every time you're tuning into one of these episodes, you are sitting down in a law school class with me as your professor.
What are the origins of presidential elections in the United States?
We talk about Supreme Court cases that have shaped all of these concepts that we talk about. We talk about laws. We talk about all kinds of things so that by the end of this series, you will have obtained your imaginary degree from Unbiased University, which means that you will be fully prepared for the show when I come back from maternity leave and I get back to reporting on current events because all of these concepts we're talking about in each of these episodes, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Supreme Court, etc., They're all in the background of every single current event that we talk about. So it's really important that we all understand them on a deep level. Now, although I am on maternity leave, as a reminder, if you are interested in getting an unbiased rundown of current events, I am still cranking out episodes on Substack when I can.
So definitely go ahead and subscribe to my Substack by clicking the link in the show notes for this episode. It's totally free. I just need your email address. And that's that. Now, if you enjoy this episode, if you learn a lot, please share it with your family and friends. I am, as you guys know, very passionate about educating as many people as possible. And perhaps you have people in your life that are not aware of this show, are not aware of the benefit that this show provides. And I think we could all stand to, you know, be a bit more knowledgeable about these topics that shape our everyday conversations. So please, if you enjoy this episode, share it with your family, friends, loved ones, whoever it might be.
And with that, let's talk about presidential elections. Just like a lot of the traditions here in the United States, the creation of the presidential election can be traced back to the Constitution. Article 2 of the Constitution specifically is what originally established the method of presidential elections, which included the Electoral College. The Electoral College was actually a compromise between the framers. Some framers wanted Congress to choose the president. Others wanted a national popular vote. And their compromise was somewhat of a combination of the two. And we will take a deeper look at exactly how the Electoral College works a little bit later on in this episode. But what we'll hit on now is that Article 2 gives each state the authority to determine how its electors are appointed.
And in the earliest presidential elections, several state legislatures actually selected electors themselves without a public vote. Only six states chose to let some form of popular voting determine their electors. Over time, though, as we know, every state ended up moving towards allowing voters to choose the presidential electors themselves. And that is the system we use today. But the method of choosing electors is not the only aspect of the Electoral College that changed with time.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–1:20
2
What are the origins of presidential elections in the United States?
1:20–18:08
3
How does the Electoral College function in presidential elections?
18:08–33:20
4
What changes did the 12th Amendment introduce to the election process?
33:20–38:14
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from UNBIASED Politics
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