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Saturday Morning News

Electoral College to Meet Monday

Aired December 16, 2000 - 7:04 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: On Monday, the Electoral College meets to vote for President. And in most presidential election years, this has been a fairly routine event. But this years election mess definitely put the spotlight on this gathering.

CNN national correspondent Bob Franken has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They gather every four years. Every first Monday, says the law, after the second Wednesday in December. That's this Monday, when members of the Electoral College assemble in their state capitols. There are 538 of them and the majority choses the President.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am proud to cast my vote for President George Bush.

FRANKEN: The Electoral College was created by the founding fathers, a compromise between those who wanted the people to directly elect the President, and those who wanted Congress to choose. The number of each states electors matches a states Congressional delegation, an elector for each of the two Senators and one for each of the state's House members. How many, depends on the population.

Voters actually choose slates of electors representing each candidate, and the candidate who wins the popular vote gets that states electoral votes. It doesn't always reflect the popular vote. Al Gore, for instance, got more popular votes national wide, but fewer electors, as we all know. And in 24 states the electors are not even bound by law to support the candidate the voters selected them too.

Throughout U.S. history there have been numerous cases of so- called faithless electors who changed their minds. The first in 1796, the most recent, 1988. Theoretically, it would only take three faithless electors nationwide to change this years results.

JAN BARAN, ELECTION LAW ANALYST: I don't think, after everything we've gone through for the last five weeks, that there is a possibility, a realistic possibility, of a faithless elector.

FRANKEN: In January, Congress officially receives the Electoral College result in a ceremony usually so routine it is virtually ignored. It was almost anything but routine this year. There is widespread discussion about eliminating the Electoral College. That would take a Constitutional amendment, which is exceedingly difficult to achieve, for the same reason there is an Electoral College. The founding fathers, rightly or wrongly, did not trust their fellow countrymen to decide wisely in the passion of the moment.

Bob Franken, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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