Flaws in the electoral system began to appear in 1796. The system, at that time, resulted in the President and Vice President being from different political parties.
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why the United States has only two major parties
George Washington won the first electoral election in 1789 with 69 electoral votes.
counting the electoral votes that were cast in the presidential election
First off, the general public do not elect the voters in the electoral college. Those chosen to cast a vote as an elector are appointed to this position. After the popular vote in each state has been tallied, the electors of that state, (however many there are) cast all of their state's electoral votes for the candidate their state chose. However, this system was designed to prevent the popular vote from making a bad choice for President. Because of this, the electors in the Electoral College have the ability to change their vote and give it to the other candidate. The number of votes given to each state is based on that state's population. That is why, for example, California has more than fifty electoral votes while some states have only two or three.
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