In a true democracy, the people would elect a President directly. The President of the US is elected by the Electoral College, which allocates votes to states based on a formula that gives smaller states a higher number of delegates than if purely apportioned by population. The end result is that the candidate who receives the highest number of popular votes is not necessarily elected President. The US government is not a true democracy, nor was it intended to be. It is a representative democracy, meaning that rather than vote on everything, we elect representatives to vote on our behalf.
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Twelfth σ.σ (A+, Civics)
3/5 ratio for counting slaves, representation in the legislature, and the method of electing a president.
Congress chooses the President.
Rival candidates became president and vice-president in 1796 because of election process given in the original Constitution . At first, the presidential electors each had two votes and the runner-up was elected vice-president. This method of election was altered by the 12th amendment ratified in June 1804 in time for the 1804 election. (Of course it is not unusual for rival candidates from the same party to end up as running mates for president and vice-president.) There is another way that a President and Vice President of rival parties could be elected which, although it hasn't happened yet, is still quite possible the way our system is set up. For example, if the presidential and vice presidential elections both end up in a 269-269 tie, and the House, which would then be responsible for electing the president, and the Senate, which would have the responsibility of electing the vice president, are controlled by rival parties, odds are high that the majority party in each case would prevail. -HW
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