IWhen Does The Election End? -
A Look
At The Electoral College
By Karen Parker
Poet Staff Writer
Don't sigh at the end of the day
November 6, saying, "Thank good
ness, the presidential election is
over." i
_ i
Sure, you’ve given the election
your best shot on the ballot, but the
process of the presidential elec
tion will not only be in the pri
mary states. You’U Have participat
ed in the popular vote; the presi
dential election, however, is final
ized by an electoral college.
The principle behind the elec
toral college is the electors (select
ed by the voters) will be pledged to
support the popular vote in your
state. Simplified, if the majority of
(Voters in; North Carolina vote
Mondale-/Ferraro, the electors are
expected to cast their votes for
that ticket. If the Democratic
ticket isn't the winner in the state,
the electors are expected to vote
Reagan-Bush.
Each state has electors equal to its
number of members in Congress. In
North Carolina, there are 13 con
gressional members; therefore, the
state is allotted 13 members to the
electoral college.
it s important to note while the
electors are pledged to a particu
lar Party, they are not constitu
tionally bound to support the popu
lar vote of the state which they
represent. If they were forced to
vote according to the popular
ballot, Jimmy Carter would have
defeated Ronald Reagan in 1980.
Reports indicate the President
received only 50.7 percent of the
total popular vote. Nevertheless he
received 489 electoral votes. Carter
only received 49. There are a total of
;>38 electoral votes. To become
President, the candidate must gain
at least 270 of the 538.
u s rarely Happened, but there are
a few cases when neither presiden
tial candidate received the absolute
majority of electoral votes. Not
surprising, the writers of the Con
stitution considered this happen
ing. The solution to such a case is the
House of Representatives elects the
President; the Senate elects the Vice
President.
As you can imagine, candidates
remain uncertain about their vic
tory parties until the electoral votes
are cast and tallied. This year,
electors convene Monday, Decem
ber 17.
When Congress comes together.
January 3, 1985, the decision made
by the electoral college will be
revealed. The inauguration for Pre
sident and Vice President doesn't
occur until January 20
Whether the electoral college is a
democratic system has probably
been debated since the election of
George Washington. Some voters
believe the election should end with
the popular vote.
in either case, a mass number of
decisions will be based on the way
the general public votes. So if you’re
being reminded every day to get out
and vote, it’s likely your opinion is
important and necessary in devel
oping the future of America.
Organized Crime Expert To Speak At Davidson College
Davidson - Dan E. Moldea, a noted
free-lance writer and nationally
recognized expert on the criminal
underworld, will speak on "Organ
ized Crime in America" at 7:30 p.m.,
September 25, in the 900 Room of the
Davidson College Union.
Moldea’s lecture will feature dis
cussion of organized crime's links to
the Nixon and Reagan adminis
trations, professional sports and
America’s intelligence gathering
agencies.
An investigative journalist,
Moldea has devoted his life to the
study of organized crime. His 1978
book The Hoffa Wars’’ was chosen
by the Book-of-the-Month Club as an
alternate selection and syndicated
by The New York Times A con
troversial and outspoken critic of
criminal elements within organized
labor, Moldea has served as an
Associate Fellow at the Institute for
Policy Studies, and worked with
NBC News, The Detroit Free
Press, and columnist Jack Ander
son.
A resident of Washington, D.C..
Moldea has written for The London
Observer, The Washington Post and
Playboy, and serves as a guest
lecturer for Georgetown University.
V *
• r •
i
Picking on the power company is standard operating
procedure for some folks, particularly in election
years. And we certainly don’t deny people the right
to express their minds. But we’d like to say a few
words about our operating procedure. One of our
primary goals has always been to generate electricity
as efficiently and economically as possibly And '
were doing pretty well at it.
A few weeks ago, we won a first place award
for producing electricity more efficiently than any
other power company in the United States.
Wive won that award six times row. That’s quite
an achievement. But the real winner isn't us. It’s you.
If we had operated at the average efficiency level
all the other power companies, it would have
cost c'jur customers nearly $72 million more last
year alone.
Wb know electricity isn’t cheap. But you need to
know that we re continually working very hard on
your behalf. Not just during election years.
DUKEPOWER
• Paid for by the shareholders of Duke Pcmer.
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