How did the election of 1800 reflect the weakness of the Electoral College as established in the Constitution?
The Constitution did not distinguish between presidential and vice presidential candidates; it provided only that each elector vote for two candidates, and the one with the most votes becoming president, and the runner-up becomes vice-president. But because we had more than one political party (Federalists and Republicans) the system was impractical. The vote was a tie; 73 votes each for Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr. The Constitution provided that in case of a tie, the House of representatives (voting by state) would choose between them. In the House, the Republicans controlled only 8 of the 16 delegations. On the first ballot, Jefferson got 8 votes (one short of election.) Burr got 6. Two state delegations, being split, lost their vote. Through 35 ballots, the deadlock persisted. In the end on February 17, 1801, Jefferson was elected. To make sure this would never happen again, the Twelfth Amendment was drafted, providing for separate balloting in the Electoral College for presiden
