When the Constitution was written, Electors only voted for the President. Whoever got the most votes became President. The runner-up became Vice President. With the establishment of Political Parties, this caused many problems.
Ratification of the Twelfth Amendment changed this. Each Elector must cast distinct votes for President and Vice President. An Elector can vote for no more than one candidate from his home state. Therefore, the Vice Presidential candidate is always from a different state than that of the Presidential candidate.
The candidate for President nominates the Vice President sometime in late August - who is then formally endorsed by the party's convention. A Vice President in the same party as the President, assures continuity should he have to take over this office.
Running mates are often chosen to balance the ticket. Vice-Presidential candidates are often from populous states with a large number of electoral votes - in the hope this will encourage those of his state to vote for this ticket.
Ballots are set up to show both the President & his Running Mate. Although it appears that you are only voting once, you are actually casting two votes - one for each of the candidates.
Voters usually accept this ticket even if they do not like the Vice Presidential candidate. They feel they have no choice in this selection & must accept the dictates of the Presidential candidate & Political Party.
As I am not a Constitutional expert, I am not sure whether voters have a say in the choice of the candidate for Vice President. I know that since ratification of the Twelfth Amendment, Political Parties have always chosen the Running Mate.
I question this only because the Amendment clearly states that distinct votes must be made for both President & Vice President. Although Electors vote twice in the Electoral College, their Vice Presidential vote is always for whoever is the Running Mate. They are never provided with a choice.
I ask: If we don’t like the Vice Presidential candidate, where in the Constitution does it state that we, during the election, can not vote for someone else?
Where does it state that we can not choose to vote for the President & refuse to vote for the Vice President?
As the Vice President is next-in-line for the Presidency, shouldn’t we have more say in his selection?
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Sorry, I didn't have the email clicked in my profile. I fixed it so you can email me now.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to hear your comments. You're obviously more knowledgeable than I & I'm looking forward to your input.
I'm just a "regular person" who is trying to get correct information out to people. Although I have a decent knowledge of the Constitution, I am by no means an expert.
My talent lies in my writing ability. I have a knack for making complicated information understandable.