Editing United States Electoral College (section)

=== Federalism and state power ===
[[File:50 of the U S population lives in 143 counties based on 2019 American Community Survey - Copy.png|thumb|upright=2.0|In 2019, half the U.S. population lived in 143 {{nowrap|urban{{\}}suburban}} counties, out of [[List of United States counties and county equivalents|3,143 counties or county equivalents]]]]

For many years early in the nation's history, up until the [[Jacksonian Era]] (1830s), many states appointed their electors by a vote of the [[State legislature (United States)|state legislature]], and proponents argue that, in the end, the election of the president must still come down to the decisions of each state, or the federal nature of the United States will give way to a single massive, centralized government, to the detriment of the States.<ref name="FEC">{{cite web |author=Kimberling |first=William C. |date=May 1992 |title=Opinion: The Electoral College |url=http://www.fec.gov/pdf/eleccoll.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010112063831/http://www.fec.gov/pdf/eleccoll.pdf |archive-date=January 12, 2001 |access-date=January 3, 2008 |publisher=[[Federal Election Commission]]}}</ref>

In his 2007 book ''[[A More Perfect Constitution]]'', Professor [[Larry Sabato]] preferred allocating the electoral college (and Senate seats) in stricter proportion to population while keeping the Electoral College for the benefit of lightly populated swing states and to strengthen the role of the states in federalism.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sabato |first=Larry |url=https://archive.org/details/moreperfectconst00saba/page/151/mode/1up |title=A More Perfect Constitution |publisher=Walker Publishing Company |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-8027-1621-7 |edition=First U.S. |pages=151–164 |access-date=July 30, 2009}}</ref><ref name="FEC" />

[[Willamette University College of Law]] professor Norman R. Williams has argued that the Constitutional Convention delegates chose the Electoral College to choose the president largely in reaction to the experience during the [[Confederation period]] where state governors were often chosen by state legislatures and wanting the new federal government to have an [[Separation of powers|executive branch that was effectively independent of the legislative branch]].<ref name="Williams 2012 pp. 1539–1570">{{cite journal |last=Williams |first=Norman R. |year=2012 |title=Why the National Popular Vote Compact is Unconstitutional |url=https://digitalcommons.law.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2686&context=lawreview |url-status=live |journal=[[BYU Law Review]] |publisher=[[J. Reuben Clark Law School]] |volume=2012 |issue=5 |pages=1539–1570 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506175208/https://digitalcommons.law.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2686&context=lawreview |archive-date=May 6, 2021 |access-date=October 14, 2020}}</ref> For example, Alexander Hamilton argued that the Electoral College would prevent, sinister bias, [[Foreign electoral intervention|foreign interference]] and [[Cabal|domestic intrigue]] in presidential elections by not permitting members of Congress or any other [[officer of the United States]] to serve as electors.{{sfn|Rossiter|2003|p=411}}