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- -V /v - 1 ^.^^*^<e^K>^^y;^*'^^ .*wff-3^^^^- , ™M J ^^'U»^^''*A 8 Adirondack Mountain Sun Eriday,NoV*6,1992 Our Grass Roots By Dewey Johns The Electoral College As my thoughts drift quickly away from national partisan politics, I can once again focus on the grass roots: Those local, active organizations and persons which have continued their efforts to improve our community in spite of the national distractions. As a teenager growing up in the 60's, history and politics provided, a great fascination. My Citizenship Education teachers would assign us reading and follow it up the next day with Intense lectures in class. We heard all the stories about the men who made our democracy great. Sometimes, my thoughts would drift away from the lecture and I would begin to wonder. \What were the women doing? How did women contribute to the success of this great democratic experiment? The answer to my questions never appeared in my readings or lectures. The answers were to be found daily in my life here in my readings and lectures. Betty Manion first taught me the answer to my questions. Many people will remember Miss Manion. She deserves to be remembered! She taught elementary school when it was primarily a woman's role. She performed her work with dedication and commitment for there was little monetary reward. She taught my schoolmates and me to be responsible, loyal citizens. She showed effective citizenship by her example. All of us who passed through her fourth grade classroom remember those lessons with fond appreciation. In the late fall of that fourth grade year, my mother took me off to the Masonic Temple for my first and most significant annual visit with Santa. While I stood in the endless line to see him, she circulated to the many booths set-up around the room displaying many handcrafted gifts, plants and pastries. Yes, we were making our annual trek to the Hospital Auxiliary Hollyberry Sale! Again, *he.answer.to nayjquestuwi,r\Whatsveteiaie. . women doing,\ was right here before me. Since the 1950's, the Lewis County General Hospital women's auxiliary has been spreading Christmas cheer, operating the hospital's gift shop/snack bar and raising funds to promote our local hospital. Women, in small local organizations scattered throughout the county called twigs, had worked throughout the year preparing the items for the sale. Another of my teachers, Mary Fairchild, sat at the door collecting the money each year in her capacity as treasurer of the organization. Moneys from the fundraisers were used to provide scholarship aid to Lewis County students pursuing careers in medicine. In addition, equipment was purchased for the hospital. The women of the organization also donated their time and talents to the redecoration of the waiting rooms and wards of the hospital. Again this year, the women of the hospital auxiliary will be introducing the Christmas season at their annual HoUybeny Sale. This time at the Lowville Elk's Club on November 21. Annette Darling, today's auxiliary president, looks forward in the coming year to forming the organization's first co-ed twig. Isn't it appropriate at a time when more women are entering the competitive world of state and national politics that men are invited to come out of the woods and assume a greater role in the cooperative world of the grass roots? CATALDO ELECTRIC SERVICE Vie Sell Ammunition We Sett Ammunition GE APPLIANCES We Buy & Sell Guns 412S CfiNliRSTREET, LYONS FALLS, NY43368 P»i 315^48*8321 While many Americans may remember something about the Electoral College from their U.S. history classes, chances are good that most of us do not fully understand what this assembly is or what role it plays in elect- ing the president and vice presi- dent of the United States. So here's an Electoral College primer — a brief overview of what the Electoral College is, its origins and the controversial role it plays in modern politics. • What is the Electoral College? The Electoral College was es- tablished by Article II of the U.S. Constitution to provide for the direct election of the presi- dent and vice president. The as- sembly is made up of \electors\ from all 50 states and the Dis- trict of Columbia. • How many electors does each state get? Each state is allotted a num- ber of electors equal to the number of members in its con- gressional delegation, that is, the total of its U.S. House of Rep- resentatives members, plus its two U.S. senators. Although the District of Columbia has no vote in Congress; it receives three electors. • What role do the electors play? When voters go to the polls on Election Day, they are cast- ing a:vote fot both •••% president ^tialcah^date ahda slate of elec- tors paired with the candidate. These electors are chosen by the candidate's political party. The winning slate of electors meets on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in Decem- ber to elect the president and vice president. Customarily, they meet in their state capitals, where each elector casts one vote for a presidential candidate and one vote for a vice-presiden- tial candidate. The results then are sent to the president of the U.S. Senate. • How are the votes counted and how many are needed to win? By law, the votes are counted on Jan. 6 before a joint session of Congress. A majority of elec- toral votes is needed for a can- didate to win. This year, if each state appoints the number of electors to which it is entitled, the total of electors will be 538. Therefore, 270 votes are needed to declare a victor. If the Electoral College fails to reach a majority, the House of Representatives elects the presi- dent, and die Senate selects the vice president. • Are the electors required by law to vote for the presidential candidate who headed the slate on which they won? Twenty-six states have no such requirement. Nineteen states and the District of Colum- bia state that electors are bound to vote for the candidates who head their slates, but do not have penalties for violators. Five states — New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Washing- ton — have established penal- ties. Of the more than 16,000 electors who have been chosen since the first election, hqw- evjfet,\ only-eight have violated. their pledges: \\•**• ™-- ••\- • Has a presidential candidate ever lost the popular vote in November and still won in the Electoral College? Yes, three times. In 1824, Andrew Jackson received 37,000 more popular votes than his opponent, John Quin- cy Adams. However, neither candidate won a majority in the Electoral College, so the election was turned over to the House of Representatives, which selected Adams as pres- ident. In 1876, Democrat Samuel Tilden received 250,000 more popular votes than Repub- lican Rutherford B. Hayes, but lost by one electoral, vote. And in 1888, history repeated itself when Democrat Grover Cleve- land lost to Republican Ben- jamin Harrison, despite having drawn 90,000 more popular votes ttian Harrison. The Electoral College was created by the framers of the Constitution out of concern that the general populace of the fledging nation could not be well-informed about the candi- dates, as well as to appease states' rights proponents who wanted state legislatures to choose die president As its function has evolved over time, the continued useful- ness of the Electoral College has come into question. Critics of the system believe it is archaic and could create a crisis in pub- lic confidence in government by sending a popular-vote loser to die White House because he or she received die majority of electoral votes. \The Electoral College is an antidemocratic in- stitution,\ said U.S. Sen. James Exon (D-Neb.) when, in 1988, he introduced a constitutional amendment to abolish it \With ?tg;*w3nriei;|^.jr votes for opposing cand oatesm each state are essentially elimi- nated from consideration.\ Over the years, die debate has spawned more than 100 efforts by various members of Con- gress to revise or abolish die Electoral College. To date, none has passed, so it looks like this unique American institution is here to stay. 13 C1992, PM Editorial Services In Lyons Falls you can purchase the Adirondack Mountain Sun at the Pert Florist Slwp and the Falls Pharmacy. Allocation of Electoral Votes among the States 1992 2000 State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana 9 3 8 6 54 8 8 3 25 13 4 4 22 12 7 6 8 9 4 10 12 18 10 7 11 3 State Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming District of Columbia Electoral Votes S 4 4 15 5 33 14 3 21 8 7 23 4 8 3 • ' ; ':ii. • - $2 ' 5 • • 3 • - jfcv: - • ii . $ ii 3 • .\:'••' 3 • . \ Total Electoral Votes; 538 Source:- 'After the People Vote.* edited by Walter Bems. C1992.PME<«odjlStfvices
