PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS 2000

For detailed information about how the Electoral College works, refer to the following web sites:

The National Archives and Records Administration “U.S. Electoral College Home Page” at www.nara.gov/fedreg/elctcoll/index.html

or the Federal Election Commission web page “About Elections and Voting” at

www.fec.gov/elections.html.

Each state has different laws about the presidential electors chosen by that state.

The following are some common questions about the selection and election of presidential electors in Minnesota:

1.                  How many presidential electors does Minnesota have? What determines this number?

Minnesota currently has 10 presidential electors. Article 2, Section 1, Clause 2 of the Constitution of the United States provides that each state shall appoint a number of electors equal to the number of Senators or Representatives to which each state is entitled in Congress. Since Minnesota currently has 8 U.S. Representatives and 2 U.S. Senators, the state is entitled to 10 electors. The number of electors can change after each decennial census when the number of U.S. Representatives elected by each state can change due to shifts in population.

2.                  What are the qualifications to serve as a presidential elector in Minnesota?

The qualifications are set forth in the Constitution of the United States.

Article 2, Section 1, Clause 2 provides that “no Senator or Representative, or person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.”

Section 3 of the 14^th Amendment also states that “No person shall be… elector of President or Vice-President… who, having previously taken an oath… to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.”

3.                  How does a person become a candidate to be chosen as a presidential elector in Minnesota?

(A)  Major political parties: The four major political parties (currently the Constitution; Democratic-Farmer-Labor; Independence; and Republican parties) nominate candidates for presidential elector by delegate conventions called and held under the supervision of the party’s state central committee. The state chair of a major party must certify to the Secretary of State the names of the persons nominated as presidential electors and the names of the party candidates for president and vice-president on or before September 12, 2000 (primary election day). Minnesota Statutes 208.03.  NOTE: The Independence Party did not certify presidential elector candidates for the 2000 general election.

(B)  Minor political parties: A minor political party may nominate candidates for presidential elector by circulating a petition. The petition must list the names of the presidential elector candidates and the names of the candidates for president and vice-president. This petition must be signed by at least 2,000 individuals eligible to vote in Minnesota. Candidates for presidential elector must file their petitions on or before September 12, 2000 (primary election day). Minnesota Statutes 204B.07, 204B.08, and 204B.09. In 2000, the Green Party, Libertarian Party, Reform Party, Reform Party Minnesota, Socialist Workers Party filed petitions for presidential electors and candidates for president and vice-president to be placed on the general election ballot.

(C)  Write-in candidates: An individual may file a “written request by write-in candidates for federal and state office.” This form requests that all write-in votes cast for the candidate be counted. A write-in candidate for president must also state the name of at least one, but no more than ten, candidates for presidential electors. Minnesota Statutes 204B.09, and 208.04. As of this writing, two individuals (Eddie Bernard Marcus and Beatrice J. Mooney) have filed as write-in presidential candidates.

4.                  Do the names of the presidential elector candidates appear on the general election ballot?

No.

The names of the presidential and vice-presidential candidates appear on the ballot, but not the names of presidential elector candidates. Minnesota Statutes 208.04.

5.                  How can I find out the names of the presidential elector candidates?

The names of all Minnesota presidential elector candidates are listed on the Elections Division page on the Secretary of State web site: (www.sos.state.mn.us/elections)

6.                  Can a voter split votes between presidential elector candidates of different political parties?

No.

A vote can only be cast for the entire slate of electors by voting for the presidential and vice-presidential ticket that the candidates for elector are pledged to support.

7.                  Are the presidential elector candidates required to receive a majority of the votes cast (50%) in Minnesota? 

No.

The presidential electors pledged to support the presidential and vice-presidential ticket that receives the MOST votes in MINNESOTA are certified as the official presidential electors for Minnesota. The winning slate of electors is only required to receive more votes in Minnesota than any other slate of electors. A majority (50% plus one vote) is not required for an elector to be elected.

8.                  What happens after election day on November 7, 2000? How and when do the electors assemble and cast their ballots?

On or before November 14, 2000, each county will convene a Canvassing Board to officially count the votes cast for all candidates in that county. These returns will then be forwarded to the Secretary of State. On November 21, 2000, the Secretary of State will convene the State Canvassing Board, which will count the votes cast for the presidential electors. The State Canvassing Board will declare the persons receiving the highest number of votes for this office to be duly elected.

The Governor will then transmit a certificate of election, signed by the Governor and countersigned by the Secretary of State, to each presidential elector. Minnesota Statutes 208.05.

The presidential electors will meet before noon at the State Capitol Building in St. Paul, on a day fixed by Congress (tentatively set as Monday, December 18, 2000), and notify the Governor that they are ready to fulfill their duties as electors. The Governor will then deliver to them a certificate of the names of all the electors. If an elector fails to appear by 9:00 a.m., the other electors will “elect by ballot a person to fill the vacancy.” The electors shall notify the Governor who has been elected to fill any vacancy.

The presidential electors then meet “in the executive chamber at the state capitol” and cast a ballot for president, and a separate ballot for vice-president.

Minnesota Statutes 208.06, 208.07, and 208.08. 

9.                  What happens to the presidential elector votes after the electors meet in St. Paul?

Federal law requires that copies of the “Certificate of Votes Cast” by Minnesota presidential electors be sent to the Vice-President (as President of the United States Senate), to the National Archives, to the senior federal district court judge, and to the Secretary of State of Minnesota. If the certificate sent to the Vice-President were to be lost in transit, one of the copies sent elsewhere would be substituted.

The electoral votes of each state are counted in a joint session of the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives in early January 2001 (usually on January 6, but Congress can change the date, to January 9, 1997 as it did after the last presidential election.)

After the electoral votes from all states are counted, the Vice-President of the United States declares the candidates receiving a majority of the electoral votes cast in all the states to be President-elect and Vice President-elect. The President-elect and Vice President-elect take their oaths of office for four year terms beginning at noon on January 20, 2001.

10.       Are the presidential electors required to vote for the presidential and vice-presidential candidates that their party has nominated?

            No.

            An elector can cast a ballot for any individual, whether or not the individual was that party's candidate for the office. This has happened several times in other states in recent years (West Virginia 1988: a Democratic Party elector reversed the ticket and voted for Lloyd Bentsen for President and Michael Dukakis for Vice-President; Washington State 1976, a Republican Party elector voted for Ronald Reagan for President, although Gerald Ford was the Republican nominee that year; Virginia 1972, a Republican Party elector voted for John Hospers and Theodora Nathan, the Libertarian presidential ticket.

11.       Would Congress count an electoral vote cast for an individual who was not a presidential or vice-presidential candidate?

            Congress has always counted electoral votes for individuals who were not candidates, with one exception: if a candidate cannot meet (or no longer meets) the Constitutional requirements to serve in the office, Congress has voided electoral votes cast for that person. This last occurred in 1872 when Horace Greeley, the Democratic Party presidential candidate died after election day, but before the electoral votes were counted. Although Greeley received some electoral votes, Congress declared them void.

12.       What happens if no candidate receives a majority of the electoral votes cast for either President or Vice-President?

            The federal Constitution sets forth special procedures for the United States House of Representatives to choose the next President, and for the United States Senate to choose the next Vice-President. See the U.S. Electoral College Home Page link above for details about these procedures.

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