Please go here: http://understandingourconstitution.blogspot.com/2009/11/understanding-our-constitution-part-5.html#comment-form  to read Sheri’s post before reading my response, it will make more sense.

I have not read any other entries other than this one as I was asked about it from a friend.

You are correct in your understanding of the original concept in that votes were cast for President only, and the runner-up was Vice President. This meant that political opponents could and did occupy the executive offices at the same time starting with Adams/Jefferson. The election process at that time was not set up for political parties, and actually was set in this manner to discourage them. George Washington saw the burden of parties on the political process and actively warned against party politics. However, the idea of parties became the norm and in the election of 1800 (I suggest you study this important event for a variety of reasons)proved that the way America chose a President needed revamped.

Enter Amendment Twelve.

There are a couple of points that you have missed and I will attempt to help your readers understand the meaning of the Amendment.

FIRST POINT, and most important, we do not vote for a President of Vice President.

Rather “Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature 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…” (Article II, Section 2)

POINT TWO, because the above portion of the Article is still relevant, Presidential elections are a state function. Each state makes the rules of who can be an elector and how they are chosen. In most states, we vote for electors during the primary, other states allow electors to be chosen by a party convention or cacus.

Point Three, after the primaries, parties hold conventions to endorce a particular Presidential and Vice Presidential candidate. This is a formality that is not binding because it is a party function. As such, the parties have to let the election authorities in each state know who will officially be place on the ballot for the respective parties. Again, because elections are a state function, the rules are different on how and when this must be done. It is concievable that a state may allow more than one candidate from a party on a ballot – but I don’t know of any that do.

Now let’s put this all together:

On a Tuesday in November, Americans go to the polls and cast votes for several offices, one of which is for a Presidential slate (Pres. and Vice. for a particular party), which is really non-binding as we will see. Then on Tuesday evening, sometimes into Wedesday morning, we watch the national election returns. News casters show a map of the U.S. and assign a color to each state, red or blue depending on the popular vote of the state, while at the same time adding up the electorial votes gained by each Presidential slate. We all wake up the next morning to read the news headlines of who the next President is.

Here’s the catch: the President has not been elected yet.

Article II, Section 3: “The Congress may determine [...] the day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall be the same throughout the United States.”

Remember that electors were chosen during the primary. The law states that the winning party in each state send their electors to the specified meeting place in their state. Federal statute also mandates that they meet at the same time, which is the first Monday following the first Wednesday in December.

So, now we have electors meeting in December across the states, who then cast their votes for President and Vice President, which must be certified by the Governor, and then “transmit sealed to the seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate; the President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted” (Amend. 12)
Then, and only then, do we have a duly elected President and Vice president. However, the electors DO NOT have to cast their votes how the states voted (although several states have passed laws mandating the electors vote in accordance with the state popular vote). Running mates are nothing more than “gentlemans agreements” within a party, so they too are not set in stone until the votes are counted in the Senate.

So all this explaination to answer your question about when we vote for a Vice President – Answer: during the most important elction, when we choose electors, the primary. This is the only election where, in party politics, Americans are given a choice.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 30th, 2009 at 11:31 pm and is filed under Constitutional Issues, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.