[awpitt (Premo)]

Originally Posted by This_person

Wasn't the original intent supposed to be that a popular person, but one of bad moral character or other fault, would not be elected because the states would put people in the electoral college that actually were more educated about the candidates?

Yes, you’re right about that but keep in mind that the Electoral College was conceived in a time when it might take days, sometimes weeks, for information to reach all parts of the country. There was also a great disparity between the education levels of various parts of the population. We live in a different time now. Originally, the state legislatures chose the two US Senators for each state. That changed in 1913. The President was originally inaugurated in March. That changed in 1933. Until 1961, the District of Columbia didn’t have electoral votes. And, until 1967, if a president didn’t complete his term, we would be without a vice-president until the next election. I guess my point is that things change. We don’t live in the 18th century when the Constitution was written. We’re in different times with a better educated population and with technologies that didn’t exist back in the time of the Constitutional Convention.