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1 1 (July 10, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govdavc0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Resarh Service Supreme Court Clarifies Rules for Electoral College: States May Restrict Faithless Electors July 10, 2020 On July 6, 2020, the Supreme Court unanimously held that states may punish or replace presidential electors who refuse to cast their ballots for the candidate chosen by the voters of their state. In the case Chia/alo v. Wishingion, a majority of the Court held that the State of Washington's constitutional authority to appoint electors includes the power to impose a $1,000 fine against electors who violate their pledge to support the candidate chosen in the state's popular vote. In the related case Co/orado Departnent of'State v. Baca, the Court upheld on the same grounds Colorado's policy of replacing electors who attempt to cast a ballot for a person who did not win the state's popular vote. This Legal Sidebar explains the Court's decisions and reviews their broader implications. Background Article ii of the Constitution provides, Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress. Under the Twelfth Amendment, the electors meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves. Today, states employ a two-step process to appoint their electors. First, states ask each political party to submit a slate of electors that it would like to represent the state. Second, states hold a general election in November-what is widely regarded as Election Day-where voters register their preference among candidates for President and Vice President. The party that wins the most statewide votes for its presidential ticket generally gets to have its slate of electors appointed by the state. (Forty-eight states and the District of Columbia allot all their electoral votes to the winner of the statewide popular vote; Maine and Nebraska allot two electors to the winner of the statewide popular vote and one elector to the winner of the popular vote in each of the state's congressional districts.) Because political parties choose the electors in the first instance, electors are expected to be loyal to their party and cast ballots for the party's ticket if its candidates win the state vote. But that expectation has not always come true. Occasionally, so-called faithless electors cast ballots for candidates other than those their parties prefer-sometimes as a form of political protest, sometimes as a strategic ploy, and sometimes, apparently, by mistake. To curb these surprises, 32 states and the District of Columbia have Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSB10515 CRS LegaM Sideba Prepaimed for Mernbei-s and Comm ittees o.i C- --q .. . . . . . . . ...----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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