Electoral College a ‘checkmate’ against voters

What is an Elector? For the California Democrats, I organized the Electoral College five times (1992-2008), and I myself was an Elector for President Bill Clinton in 1996.

In 1992 I tried to find a Democrat who had organized an Electoral College before. The last time that a Democrat won California was in 1964 (LBJ), so they had all passed away.

In the 1700s, our Founders wrote our Constitution creating the Electoral College. Each state decides how to choose Electors equal to their total members in Congress. California with 53 House and two U.S. Senators gets 55. Congress has 535 and Washington D.C. has three, so a candidate needs 270 Electoral votes to be elected.

The reason the Founders created the Electoral College was as a checkmate against the voters, in case they made a “mistake.”

In California, Republican top politicians choose their Electors (last time for them was in 1988 and I don’t think they will ever be called for “duty” again). For Democrats each congressional nominee and Senators Feinstein and Harris choose an Elector.

If no candidate gets the 270 votes, then the decision goes to the U.S. House and each state gets one vote. Thus, Wyoming with three Electors and California with 55 Electors each get just one vote. John Q. Adams was made President by the House in 1824. A total of five candidates came in second in votes from the American people but won with the Electoral College, including Bush Jr. (2000) and Trump (2016).

— Bob Mulholland, Chico