What in the original electoral college illustrated that the framers did not anticipate political parties?

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Jimmy Chaney

13 October, 18:42

What in the original electoral college illustrated that the framers did not anticipate political parties?

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Beckett Hammond · Answer 1

In the original framework for the electoral college, electors cast two votes for president, and none for vice president. The candidate with the most votes would become president, while the one with the second-highest number of votes would become vice president.

Because the founders did not anticipate the creation of political parties, the president and vice president could be from different political parties. This was the case in 1796, when John Adams (Federalist Party) won the presidential election, with Thomas Jefferson (Democratic-Republican party) becoming vice president.

The arrangement became a problem in the 1800 election, where the Democratic-Republican party nominated Jefferson as president and Burr as vice president. Both candidates tied, and there was no way of constitutionally determining who would become president, even though Jefferson was the party's favourite.