Article II of the U.S. Constitution
When the fathers of this country were writing the document that was later to be known as "the most perfect document", they were designing the framework of how the country's government would operate. One of their priorities was to create a system that consisted of branches of government, with each branch having some kind of power to check the others. This would keep the power balanced. Article II deals specifically with one of these branches: the executive branch.
In the United States, the powers in the executive branch are given to a President. The President is elected for terms of four years. The same goes for his second-in-commmand, the Vice President. In Section 1 of Article II, the specific process for how the President and Vice President are elected is clearly laid out. First of all, each state appoints a number of Electors to the Electoral College.
Official portrait of Vice President of the United ...
Vice President of the United States John C. Calhou...
Lyndon B. Johnson taking the oath of office on Air...The number of Electors appointed is the same as the number of Senators and Representatives that represent that particular state in Congress. There is a stipulation that no Senator or Representative can be an Elector. Then, the Electors meet and cast their votes for two people, one of which must not be from their home state. Next, a list of each person voted for, along with the corresponding number of votes received, is sent to the President of the Senate. The person with the highest number of votes and a majority is the new President. If there is no majority, then the House of Representatives meets and picks by ballot, the new President. The person who has the greatest number of votes as Vice President becomes the new Vice President. If there is no majority, then the Senate picks the Vice President. The 12th Amendment added to...