of president would be eligible to serve as vice president. Text Background Under the original procedure for the Electoral College, as provided in Article II, Section 1, Clause 3, each elector cast two electoral votes, with no distinction made between electoral votes for president and electoral votes for vice president. The two people chosen by the elector could not both inhabit the same state as that elector. This prohibition was designed to keep electors from voting for two "favorite sons" of their respective states. The person receiving the greatest number of votes, provided that number constituted a majority of the electors, was elected president. There were two possible scenarios in which the House of Representatives would need to hold a contingent election to select the president. If there were more than one individual who received the same number of votes, and such number equaled a majority of the electors, the House would choose one of them to be president. If no individual had a majority, then the House would choose from the five individuals with the greatest number of electoral votes. In both sets of circumstances, each state delegation had one () vote. A candidate was required to receive an absolute majority, more than half of the total number of states, in order to be chosen as president. Selecting the vice president was a simpler process. Whichever candidate received the second greatest number of votes for president became vice president. The vice president, unlike the president, was not required to receive votes from a majority of the electors. In the event of a tie for second place, the Senate would hold a contingent election to select the vice president from those tied, with each senator casting one vote. A candidate was required to receive an absolute majority, more than half of the total Senate membership, in order to be chosen as vice president. The original electoral system worked adequately for the first two presidential elections because on both occasions George Washington was the unanimous choice of the electors for president; the only real contest was the election for vice president for which an overall majority was not required. George Washington's decision not to seek a third term and the emergence of partisan political activity exposed problems with the original procedure. In the 1796 election, John Adams, the Federalist Party presidential candidate, received votes from a majority of electors. However, the