	Introduction

American voters elect the President and Vice President of the United States under a complex arrangement of constitutional provisions, federal and state laws, and political party practices known as the electoral college system. Despite occasional close elections, this system has delivered uncontested results in 47 of 51 elections since adoption of the 12 th Amendment, effective in 1804. For further information on this proposal, please consult CRS Report RL32611, The Electoral College: How It Works in Contemporary Presidential Elections , by [author name scrubbed]. While a system that allows such a miscarriage of the popular will might have been acceptable in the 19 th century, opponents maintain that it has no place in the 21 st .

	Reform Proposals in the 109th Congress

		H.J.Res. 8

H.J.Res. 8 was referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary on January 4, 2005, and to its Subcommittee on the Constitution on March 2. 17

H.J.Res. H.J.Res. 36

H.J.Res. 17 ). H.J.Res. 50

H.J.Res. No further action was taken during the balance of the 109 th Congress. S.J.Res 11

S.J.Res. 11 was introduced by Senator Dianne Feinstein on March 16, 2005, and has been cosponsored by Senator Barbara Boxer. Section 1 of this proposal sought to establish direct popular election of the President and Vice President, eliminating the electoral college system. S.J.Res. 11 was read twice in the Senate on March 16, 2005, and immediately referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. First, the volume of proposed amendments that would reform the electoral college, as opposed to those that would eliminate the electoral college and substitute direct popular election, has declined almost to zero.
American voters elect the President and Vice President of the United States under a complex arrangement of constitutional provisions, federal and state laws, and political party practices known as the electoral college system. For additional information on contemporary operation of the system, please consult CRS Report RL32611, The Electoral College: How It Works in Contemporary Presidential Elections, by [author name scrubbed].
Despite occasional close elections, this system has delivered uncontested results in 47 of 51 elections since the 12th Amendment was ratified in 1804. Down these many years, however, it has been the subject of persistent criticism and numerous reform proposals. In the contemporary context, related measures fall into two basic categories: those that would eliminate the electoral college and substitute direct popular election of the President and Vice President, and those that would retain the existing system in some form, while correcting perceived defects.
Four relevant proposed amendments were introduced in the 109th Congress: H.J.Res. 8 (Representative Gene Green, and others); H.J.Res. 17 (Representative Eliot Engel and others); H.J.Res. 36, (Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr., and others); H.J.Res. 50 (Representative Zoe Lofgren and others); and S.J.Res. 11 (Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer). All proposed to eliminate the electoral college and substitute direct popular election, while H.J.Res. 8, H.J.Res. 17, H.J.Res. 50 and S.J.Res. 11 also sought to empower Congress to set federal standards for various aspects of voting registration and election administration procedures. The House measures were referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary and to its Subcommittee on the Constitution, while S.J.Res. 11 was referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. No further action was taken on any of them during the life of the 109th Congress.
For additional information on electoral college contingencies and broader aspects of reform proposals, please consult CRS Report RL30804, The Electoral College: An Overview and Analysis of Reform Proposals, by [author name scrubbed] and [author name scrubbed]. This report will not be updated.