Teachers tell us that students find the Electoral College the most perplexing feature of our constitutional system. Today, we offer an explanation of why the Electoral College exists, how it works, and what happens when the electoral count in any state is contested.

Polls and pundits predict that this year’s presidential election will be close. Reviewing the history of the tense presidential election of 1800 helps us understand how Americans have managed such contests in the past. The changes in our system since 1800, and the involvement of thousands of Americans in monitoring, counting, and certifying the vote, should reassure us that our electoral system will once again operate reliably.

Many students enter high school government classes knowing very little about the way the American constitutional system really works. This summer we asked five teachers attending the residential program of the Master of Arts in American History and Government (MAHG) how they convey to students what self-government requires. They said that when they teach through primary documents, students discover that our Constitution is not self-enforcing. Citizens must understand and support it.