How Our Republic Became a Democracy

[Keith Broaders]

In the Presidential Election of 1788 George Washington was elected unanimously by the 69 electors.. Only 39,624 men in 10 states cast popular votes. In the election of 1792 he was re-elected unanimously while receiving all of the 132 electoral votes, but only 28,300 popular votes.

Only four states even conducted a popular election.

Massachusetts voters cast 20,343 ballots

Pennsylvania voters cast 3,479 ballots

New Hampshire cast 2,762 ballots

New Jersey cast 808 ballots

Election of 1792

Election of 1796

Each of the electors was chosen from among the state's most highly qualified men. They did not represent the people or the Congressional Districts, They simply voted for the candidate of their choice.

In some of the states the electors were chosen by the state legislature and in other they were elected by the white men in Congressional Districts. It was never the intent of our founders to allow the people to vote directly for the President.

The men who wrote the Constitution did not believe that the people at large were sufficiently educated and well informed to be capable of voting for the President.

It wasn't until the arrival of Andrew Jackson on the scene that the popular vote become significant and the electors became obligated to cast their ballot for the candidate winning the statewide popular vote.