At the beginning of our national history, the state legislatures themselves chose the Presidential electors, but with the spread of democracy the legislatures gradually transferred the choice of these electors to the people. To-day Presidential electors are in every state chosen by popular vote, on a general state-wide ticket.
After the election of 1800 it became apparent that in order to prevent the candidate for Vice President from defeating the candidate for President, there would have to be a separate ballot for each of these officers. In 1804 there was accordingly passed the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution, providing that Presidential electors should thenceforth cast separate ballots for President and Vice President.
Party politics have effected a third change in the original method of choosing the President. The Constitution evidently intended that the Presidential electors should be men of high repute, and that they should select the nation's chief executive as the result of mature deliberation and independent judgment. But as early as the third Presidential election (1796) it became clearly understood that the electors would merely register the opinions of their constituents. Technically the electors still choose the President; as a matter of fact they exercise no discretion, but merely express decisions previously reached by their respective constituents.
510. PRESENT METHOD OF CHOOSING THE PRESIDENT.—To-day the President of the United States is elected as follows:
Each political party nominates a candidate for the presidency at a national convention held in June or July of the presidential year. At about the same time the various parties in each state nominate the quota of presidential electors to which the state is entitled. The people vote on these electors on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November of each leap year. In each state the electors receiving a plurality assemble at the state capitol on the second Monday in January following their election, and vote directly for President and Vice President. These votes are then certified and sent to the President of the Senate. On the second Wednesday in February, this officer opens them, and in the presence of the two houses of Congress, counts them, and declares elected the candidate who has received the majority of the electoral votes. If no candidate has a majority, the House of Representatives elects one of the three leading candidates, the Representatives from each state casting one vote. In 1800 and again in 1824, the presidential election was thus decided by the House.
511. QUALIFICATIONS.—All persons who are entitled to vote for the most numerous branch of the state legislature are entitled, likewise, to vote in presidential elections. [Footnote: For limitations upon the suffrage in the various states, see Chapter XXXIII, Section 415.]
No presidential elector may hold any office of trust or profit under the United States. By custom electors are also residents of the district from which they are chosen.
The President of the United States must be a natural-born citizen of the United States and must be at least thirty-five years of age. He must also have been a resident of the United States for fourteen years.
512. COMPENSATION.—The President's salary is determined by Congress, but the amount may be neither increased nor decreased for the existing presidential term. Between 1789 and 1873 the presidential salary was $25,000, and in 1873 it was increased to $50,000 a year. Since 1909 the President has received an annual salary of $75,000, plus an allowance for travelling expenses and the upkeep of the White House or Executive Mansion.
513. TERM AND SUCCESSION.—The President-elect is inaugurated on the 4th of March following his election, and serves until the 4th of March four years later. By custom, though not by law, he is limited to two terms.