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The constitution calls for the President to elected by electors from the states. It allows the state legislatures to decide how to choose its electors. Probably most of the framers expected the legislatures to elect the electors rather than holding a popular election to choose them.
No, members of the electoral college are chosen by each state's political party. For example, in California, the Democrats and Republicans (and presumably other parties such as the Green and Libertarian Parties) would select 55 devoted party members to be electors. California (as most states) has a winner-take-all system, so if, say Sen. Barack Obama won the popular vote of California, the 55 chosen electors of the Democratic Party of CA would go to their state capitol, Sacramento, on the Monday after the second Wednesday of December to cast their votes. In the 2008 election, it will be Dec. 15. The electors cast separate ballots for President and VP. Under the US Constitution, electors may choose whoever they want, but 24 states have laws punishing faithless electors, or electors who chose a candidate other than their political party's for President. (If you check out 270towin.com, they have historical Presidential election maps, along with mentions of third party electoral vote wins and those "faithless electors
During Jackson's administration, it was changed to: Each state would be allocated a number of electors equal to the sum of its senators and members of the House of Representatives. State legislatures would decide the methods for choosing electors.
Originally the US Constitution stated that senators should be chosen by state legislatures. The 17th Amendment that was passed in 1913 stated that the senators should be chosen through an election within their state.
Originally, congress was to decide who was next in line for office after the Vice President. The 25th Amendment changed presidential succession to what it is today.