What Does the Federalist Papers Say About the Electoral College?

What Does the Federalist Papers Say About the Electoral College?There is a lot of confusion as to what the Federalist Papers say about the electoral college. These writings are a group of letters written by Alexander Hamilton, in which he advocated for the Electoral College. They provide many historical insights into the nature of the role of the electors.In the Federalist Papers, Hamilton argued that the citizens of the states should have an opportunity to choose their electors in order to make sure the electors were 'fellow-citizens.' When the citizens cast their ballots for their own electors, the electors would have 'an equal vote.' Since the electors are to be chosen by the states, this would give them a significant say in choosing the president. Electors were not to be chosen by party leaders or candidates, but rather by the people themselves.Hamilton's perspective of the electoral college was different from what we have today. Today, the electors are picked by the party leader s or candidates. The electors vote according to their party line in order to ensure that their candidate wins the election.Hamilton suggested that electors would still be chosen based on the individual qualifications of the electors. Electors were to choose electors for each state based on individual qualifications, such as a person with financial expertise having to be chosen by electors in New York. He also suggested that electors would be chosen based on district or geographical considerations.In Federalist 8, Hamilton argued that the electors should elect for a president and then split the remaining states into three equal parts. The electors would then cast votes for the three candidates and have a plurality, or a tie, election. The winner would be the candidate who received the most electoral votes.Hamilton thought that the electors would have the right to invalidate the election if they decided that the election was stolen. However, he argued that electors would have a signif icant influence in making the decision because they would have the same interests as the electorate. When someone wins the popular vote but loses the election, this would affect the electors as well. Therefore, electors would have to weigh the information in the reports of the electoral votes and make their own determination of what happened.Electors are not bound by party loyalty to any one candidate. Once a candidate becomes president, electors can change their allegiance at any time. They may go with the candidate who was elected without the need for party or state leaders. Hamilton, on the other hand, believed that electors were tied to their party affiliation.However, he admitted, 'Although electors cannot deviate from their party loyalties, they may show a disposition to vote for a third party.' Since there is a possibility that the election would not go the way desired, electors would feel free to do this. In this case, they could not vote for either the party leader or a thi rd party candidate.