水木艾迪：阅读理解冲刺之新题型四_大学英语阅读

水木艾迪：阅读理解冲刺之新题型四

　　It is even possible for someone to win the popular vote, yet lost the presidency to another candidate. How? It has to do with the electoral college.

　　The electoral college was created in response to a problem encountered during the Constitutional Convention of 1787, where delegates were trying to determine the best way to choose the president. The framers of the Constitution intended that the electors, a body of men chosen for their wisdom, should come together and choose on behalf of the people. In fact, the swift rise of political parties guaranteed that the electoral of the people. In fact, the swift rise of political guaranteed that the electoral system never worked as the framers had intended; instead, national parties, i. e. nationwide alliances of local interests, quickly came to dominate the election campaigns. The electors became mere figureheads representing the state branches of the parties who got them chosen, and their votes were predetermined and predictable.

　　How are the electors chosen? Although there is some variation among states in how electors are appointed, generally they are chosen by the popular vote, always on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Each political party in a state chooses a state of local worthies to be members of the electoral college if the partys presidential candidate wins at least a plurality of the popular vote in the state.

　　How is the number of electors decided? Every state has one elector for each senator and representative it sends to Congress. States with greater populations therefore have more electors in the electoral college. All states have at least 3 electors, but California, the most populous state, has 54. The District of Columbia, though not a state, is also allowed to send three electors.