ELECTORAL COLLEGE

	November 7, 2000
	Kwame Holman reports on the electoral college system and how it will affect this year's election.

JIM LEHRER: Back to the presidential election. There's more to that than just counting the votes. There's also something called the electoral college. We begin our look at that with a report by Kwame Holman. KWAME HOLMAN: For millions of voters today, there's a good chance their ballot today included a disclaimer like this from Florida: A vote for the candidates will actually be a vote for their electors. Curtis Gans of the Committee for the Study of the American Electorate says choosing electors is what all voters did today, whether they knew it or not. CURTIS GANS: You are voting for the candidate, but you're also voting for a number of electors who are pledged to the candidate who are selected before the election by each party, and approved by each candidate. These are the people who actually elect the President. KWAME HOLMAN: Electors from each state have chosen the President since the beginning of the republic. Gans says the system, known as the electoral college, achieves exactly what the Framers of the Constitution had in mind. CURTIS GANS: Their basic concern was not to have a President stronger than the Congress. The President was going to be seen as an administrator and an executor of the Congress' will. And therefore, the President should not have a popular mandate over and above Congress. KWAME HOLMAN: Under the electoral system, today in Florida, for example, a group of pro Bush electors competes against Gore electors. Winning the popular vote means all of that candidate's electors also are chosen -- in Florida's case, 25 electors, each representing one of the state's 25 electoral votes. Across the country, there is a total of 538 electors or electoral votes up for grabs today. Two electors from each state correspond to that state's U.S. Senate representation for a total of 100. Then there's one elector for every member a state sends to the House of Representatives - 435 in all. Washington, D.C., which is not a state, chooses three electors. To get to the White House, a candidate must win the popular vote in enough states to collect 270 electoral votes. The system corresponds to population. California is the most populous state, which gives it the most Congressional districts and thus the most electors, 54. At the other end of the spectrum, each of these least populous states has just three electoral votes. The electoral system process begins at the major parties' summer conventions every four years. For most states, party leaders nominate the electors -- usually reliable party loyalists. Weeks after today's election, the winning candidates elector's will gather in 50 state capitals. SPOKESMAN: They cast their votes in December. The votes are kept and unsealed in January. And then the President is officially elected. In reality, whatever happens this night, you know, determines what happens in both December and January. KWAME HOLMAN: But the electoral system includes a few variations. First, no federal law requires an elector to vote for the party's candidate, and over the decades, a handful of electors has strayed. In 1976, for example, an elector pledged to Gerald Ford voted for Ronald Reagan, who had lost to Ford in the Republican primary. In 1988, a Democratic elector flipped the ticket, choosing Michael Dukakis for Vice President and running mate Lloyd Benson for President. A second variation, exceptions to the state winner-take-all rule. In Maine and Nebraska, the winner in each congressional district wins that electoral vote. And what happens if there's an electoral vote tie? Again, Curtis Gans. CURTIS GANS: If the ballots that the electors cast ended up 269-269, then the selection of the next President would go to the U.S. House of Representatives, the new House of Representatives, which would vote by state delegation with each state having one vote. So whoever had a majority of - more of the state delegations would be the next President. KWAME HOLMAN: But, of course, in 53 presidential election leading up to tonight, that's never been necessary.