What is the History by Which the Winner-Take-All Rule Became Nearly Universal in Presidential Elections?
Under the “winner-take-all” rule, the presidential candidate receiving the most votes in each state is awarded 100% of the states electoral votes. In the nations first presidential election in 1789, only three states awarded their electoral votes using the “winner-take-all” rule. Many of the Founding Fathers considered the district system to be the most equitable (although it was used only by Virginia in the nations first presidential election). In the nations first competitive presidential election (1796), John Adams won by only three electoral votes. The Jeffersonians noted that their candidate had lost one electoral vote in his home state of Virginia and a second one in neighboring North Carolina. Just before the 1800 election, Thomas Jefferson wrote, “election by districts would be best, if it could be general; but while 10 states choose either by their legislatures or by a general ticket [winner-take-all], it is folly & worse than folly for the other” states to fragment their elec
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