The Pittsburgh Press (November 2, 1944)
Background of news –
When the electors bolted
By Bertram Benedict
A special session of the Mississippi Legislature is to be called, according to Governor Bailey, to amend the state’s election laws. This action will have been forced by three of the state’s nine presidential electors on the Democratic ticket. These three recently announced that they intended to vote for Senator Byrd (D-VA) for President instead of for President Roosevelt.
If any of the presidential electors elected Nov. 7 should vote on Dec. 18 for someone other than Mr. Roosevelt or Mr. Dewey, they will be fulfilling the original intent of the Constitution. As every schoolboy knows, the framers of that document expected the electors to use their own judgment in electing the President and Vice President.
It was some time before the electoral system solidified into its present procedure. Some oddities in the procedure have been as follows:
1789: There were no votes from Rhode Island or North Carolina, because these states had not yet ratified the Constitution; or from New York, because the Legislature could not agree on the election procedure. Two electors chosen from Virginia and two from Maryland did not show up to vote. One of the two Marylanders was held up by ice in Chesapeake Bay, the other had the gout. Now most states provide that if any elector fails to vote, his vote shall be cast by his fellow-electors.
1800: The Federalists counted on the electors appointed by the South Carolina Legislature, but these voted for the Democratic-Republican candidate, Jefferson, and thereby elected him. But at the same time, they voted for a Federalist for Vice President. One elector picked in Pennsylvania to vote for Adams voted for Jefferson. Of the 15 electors from Pennsylvania, eight voted for Jefferson, seven for Adams. A majority of the states still had the electors picked by the legislature, instead of by popular vote. South Carolina did not end choice by the legislature until after the Civil War.
1808: Congress had passed a law requiring the states to pick electors within 34 days preceding the first Wednesday in December, but in New Jersey, they were picked 35 days before. If New Jersey’s vote had been challenged, it could have been ruled out.
1816: Maryland chose eight Democratic-Republican electors and three Federalist ones, but the three Federalists refused to vote.
1828: One elector chosen in Georgia on the ticket for Jackson favored John Quincy Adams, and resigned after being elected rather than vote for Jackson. The Legislature filled the vacancy with a Jackson man.
1836: In some states, the slate of electors opposed to Van Buren was not pledged to any candidate, but was labeled “Opposition.” The “Opposition” electors chosen, generally known as Whigs, split their votes among four different presidential candidates.
1860: With three tickets in the field opposing the Republican ticket, the opposition in some states presented fusion slates of electors. In New York, for instance, the anti-Lincoln slate was composed of 18 electors for Douglas, 10 for Bell, and 7 for Breckenridge.
1872: Greeley, the Democratic candidate for President, died after the election but before the Electoral College met; he had won 66 electoral votes. Three of the Greeley electors persisted in voting for him, but Congress would not accept votes for a dead man. The other Greeley electors gave complimentary votes to other Democrats.
1884: With the Greenbackers showing much strength, certain states had some Greenback and some Democratic electors on the same slate. In 1892 and 1896, certain states had joint slates of some Populist, some Democratic electors.
1912: In South Dakota, the electors for Theodore Roosevelt announced they would vote for Taft instead of Roosevelt if necessary to defeat Wilson. Sherman, the Republican nominee for Vice President, died before the Electoral College met; the Republican National Committee instructed the eight Republican electors to vote for Nicholas Murray Butler for Vice President.