The CQ Researcher
Friday, December 8, 2000

Before 1800

U.S. Constitution establishes the Electoral College system for electing the president.

1787: Constitution provides for president to be elected by "electors" appointed by states; each state free to determine method of choosing electors; plan calls for second-place finisher to become vice president and for House of Representatives to elect president if no candidate has majority.

1800s

Electoral College is tested in three contentious elections but survives with one significant modification; states gradually move to popular election of presidential electors.

1800-1801: Presidential election is thrown into House, which takes 36 ballots to pick Thomas Jefferson over Aaron Burr.

1804: The 12th Amendment provides for separate election of vice president.

1824-25: John Quincy Adams trails in popular vote and electoral vote to Andrew Jackson but is elected president after one House ballot.

1830s: Most states adopt popular election of presidential electors; by 1860, only South Carolina lets state legislature choose.

1845: Congress adopts uniform national Election Day: first Tuesday after first Monday in November.

1876-77: Rutherford B. Hayes is elected president with one-vote Electoral College majority, 185-184, after 15-member commission splits along party lines in awarding him disputed votes from three Southern states.

1887: Electoral Vote Count Act specifies state legislatures' authority to adopt procedures for choosing electors.

1892: Michigan law awarding electoral votes by congressional district upheld by U.S. Supreme Court; in November election state gives nine votes to Republican Benjamin Harrison and five to Democrat Grover Cleveland. Law is repealed before next presidential election.

1900s to Present

Electoral College issue surfaces periodically, but no constitutional amendment emerges from Congress.

1950: Senate approves "proportional vote" plan to divide state electors on basis of popular vote; House kills measure.

1960: John F. Kennedy wins Electoral College majority over Richard M. Nixon, 303-219; popular-vote margin is closest in 20th century. Fourteen unpledged electors and one "faithless" Republican elector vote for Sen. Harry F. Byrd, D-Va.

1968: Nixon wins Electoral College majority over Democrat Hubert H. Humphrey and third-party candidate George Wallace (301-191-46); Nixon and Humphrey had both vowed not to negotiate with Wallace if election thrown into House.

1969: House approves constitutional amendment to shift to direct popular election of president; measure dies after Senate filibuster in 1970. Maine, in 1969, replaces winner-take-all with district-by-district system.

1980-1988: Electoral College issue fades as Republican candidates win three successive elections with decisive popular votes and electoral majorities. One Democratic elector in 1988 votes for vice-presidential nominee Lloyd Bentsen to protest system.

1992: Strong third-party bid by H. Ross Perot stirs fears of throwing election to House, but Bill Clinton wins Electoral College majority as Perot fails to carry any state. Nebraska adopts district voting for electors.

2000: Democratic Vice President Al Gore edges Republican Gov. George W. Bush of Texas in popular vote, but Electoral College outcome turns on close count in Florida; Gore and Bush vie in courts over recount.

2001: New Congress convenes, Jan. 3; meets Jan. 6 to count electoral votes for president and vice president; inauguration, Jan. 20.