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Information about Electoral College

This article is about Electoral Colleges in general. For the U.S system of electing the President, see United States Electoral College.
An electoral college is a set of electors, who are empowered as a deliberative body to elect a candidate to a particular office. Often these electors represent a different organization or entity with each organization or entity by a particular number of electors or with votes weighted in a particular way. Many times, though, the electors are simply important persons whose wisdom, it is hoped, would provide a better choice than a larger body. The system can ignore the wishes of a general membership whose thinking may not be considered. When applied on a national scale, such as the election of a country's leader, the popular vote can on occasion run counter to the electoral college's vote, and for this reason there are some who feel that the system is a distortion of true democracy in a democratic society.

Electoral colleges are an ancient institution. Germanic law stated that the German king led only with the support of his nobles. Thus Pelayo needed to be elected by his Visigothic nobles before becoming king of Asturias, and so did Pippin the Younger by Frankish nobles in order to become the first Carolingian king. While most other Germanic nations went to a strictly hereditary system by the first millennium, the Holy Roman Empire could not, and the King of the Romans, who would become Holy Roman Emperor or at least Emperor-elect, was selected by the college of prince-electors from the late Middle Ages until 1806 (the last election actually took place in 1792).

Christianity also used electoral colleges in ancient times, until late antiquity. Initially, the entire membership of a particular church, both the clergy and laity, elected the bishop or chief presbyter. However, due to various reasons such as reducing the influence of the state or the laity in church matters, election ower moved to the clergy alone and, in the case of the Western Church, then solely to a college of the canons of the cathedral church. In the Pope's case, the system of people and clergy was eventually replaced by a college of the important clergy of Rome, which eventually evolved into the College of Cardinals. Since 1059, it has had exclusive authority over papal elections.

Similar systems are used or have been used in other presidential elections around the world. For example, the President of Finland was elected by an electoral college between 1919 and 1987. The short-lived Confederate States of America provided for election of its president in virtually the same manner as set forth in the U.S. Constitution. In Germany and India, the members of the lower house of Parliament together with an equal number of members from the state parliaments elect the President of the Republic, whilst in Italy the presidential electoral college is composed of the members of both houses of Parliament and three members elected by each of the regional assemblies.

Another type of Electoral College is used by the British Labour Party to choose its leader. The college consists of three equally weighted sections: the votes of Labour MPs and MEPs; the votes of affiliated trade unions and socialist societies; and the votes of individual members of Constituency Labour Parties. During Brazil's military rule period, the president was elected by an electoral college constituting senators, deputies, state deputies, and lawmakers in the cities.

States with electoral college systems outside the United States include Burundi, Estonia, India, France (for the Senate), Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, Madagascar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Ecclesiastical electoral colleges abound in modern times, especially among Protestant and Eastern Rite Catholic Churches. In the Eastern rite churches, all the bishops of an autocephalous church elect successor bishops, thus serving as an electoral college for all the episcopal sees.

Private and corporate entities have their own version of the concept where they are known as nominating committees.

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United States Electoral College is a term used to describe the 538 President Electors who meet every 4 years to cast the electoral votes for President and Vice President of the United States; their votes represent the most important component of the presidential election.
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Voting is a method of decision making wherein a group such as a meeting or an electorate attempts to gauge its opinion—usually as a final step following discussions or debates.

Voting is used in two different ways.
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A deliberative assembly is an organization, comprising of members, that uses a parliamentary procedure for making decisions.

The following are common types of deliberative assemblies:
  • The Mass Meeting
  • The Local Assembly of an Organized Society

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An office is generally a room or other area in which people work, but may also denote a position within an organisation with specific duties attached to it (see hi officer, office-holder, official); the latter is in fact an earlier usage, office as place originally referring to the
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An organization (or organisation — see spelling differences) is a social arrangement which pursues collective goals, which controls its own performance, and which has a boundary separating it from its environment.
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entity is something that has a distinct, separate existence, though it need not be a material existence. In particular, abstractions and legal fictions are usually regarded as entities. In general, there is also no presumption that an entity is animate.
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Voting is a method of decision making wherein a group such as a meeting or an electorate attempts to gauge its opinion—usually as a final step following discussions or debates.

Voting is used in two different ways.
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Wisdom, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is defined as the "1 a: Accumulated philosophic or scientific learning-knowledge; b: Ability to discern inner qualities and relationships-insight; c: Good sense-judgment d: Generally accepted belief <challenges what has become
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Germanic peoples are a historical group of Indo-European-speaking peoples, originating in Northern Europe and identified by their use of the Germanic languages which diversified out of Common Germanic in the course of the Pre-Roman Iron Age.
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Pelagius (Spanish: Pelayo) (died 737) was the founder of the Kingdom of Asturias, ruling from 718 until his death. He is credited with beginning the Reconquista
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The Visigoths (Western Goths) were one of two main branches of the Goths, an East Germanic tribe (the Ostrogoths being the other). Together these tribes were among the loosely-termed Germanic peoples who disturbed the late Roman Empire during the Migration Period.
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Comunidad Autónoma del Principado de Asturias
Comunidá Autónoma del Principáu d'Asturies

Flag Coat of arms

Anthem: Asturias, patria querida
Capital Oviedo
Official language(s) Spanish; Asturian has special status
Area
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Carolingian dynasty

Pippinids
  • Pippin the Elder (c. 580–640)
  • Grimoald (616–656)
  • Childebert the Adopted (d. 662)
Arnulfings
  • Arnulf of Metz (582–640)
  • Chlodulf of Metz (d.

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Holy Roman Empire (Latin: Sacrum Romanum Imperium, German: Heiliges Römisches Reich, Italian: Sacro Romano Impero
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Prince-Electors (or simply Electors) of the Holy Roman Empire — German: Kurfürst ( listen   (help info ) ), pl.
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Late Middle Ages is a term used by historians to describe European history in the period of the 14th to 16th centuries (AD 1300–1500). The Late Middle Ages were preceded by the High Middle Ages, and followed by the Early Modern era (Renaissance).
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The Election of a Holy Roman Emperor or King of Germany was, from at least the 13th century, accomplished by a small body of the greatest princes of the Empire, the Prince-electors.
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Christianity

Foundations
Jesus Christ
Church Theology
New Covenant Supersessionism
Dispensationalism
Apostles Kingdom Gospel
History of Christianity Timeline
Bible
Old Testament New Testament
Books Canon Apocrypha
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Late Antiquity is a rough periodization (c. AD 300 - 600) used by historians and other scholars to describe the interval between Classical Antiquity and the Middle Ages in both mainland Europe and the Mediterranean world: generally between the decline of the western Roman Empire
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church is an association of people who share a particular belief system. The term church originated from Greek "κυριακή" - "kyriake",[1] meaning "of the lord".
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Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. The term comes from Greek κληρος (a lot, that which is assigned by lot (allotment) or metaphorically, heritage).
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In religious organizations, the laity comprises all lay persons collectively. This can mean either any person who is not a member of the ordained clergy[1] or of any monastic order or, within such an order, a monastic who is not a priest (c.f., lay brother).
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Christianity

Foundations
Jesus Christ
Church Theology
New Covenant Supersessionism
Dispensationalism
Apostles Kingdom Gospel
History of Christianity Timeline
Bible
Old Testament New Testament
Books Canon Apocrypha
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Presbyter in the New Testament refers to a leader in local Christian congregations, then a synonym of episkopos (which has now come to mean bishop).
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canon (from the Latin canonicus, itself derived from the Greek κανωνικος 'relating to a rule') is a priest who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule (canon).
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The Pope (from Latin: papa, father;[1] from Greek πάπας (papas) = father - originally written πάππας (
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The Sacred College of Cardinals is the body of all Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church. The College plays two roles in the church:
  • participating in papal elections when the Holy See is vacant,[1] and

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President is a title held by many leaders of organizations, companies, trade unions, universities, and countries. Etymologically, a "president" is one who presides , who sits in leadership (from Latin prae- "before" + sedere "to sit"; giving the term
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1880s  1890s  1900s  - 1910s -  1920s  1930s  1940s
1916 1917 1918 - 1919 - 1920 1921 1922

Year 1919 (MCMXIX
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