Sec.3.  Secondly, as to the duration of the office.  Much of what has been said in relation to the term of office of senators, will apply to that of president. (Chap.  XXX, Sec.4-6.) His term of office should not be so short as to induce him to act more with a view to his re-election than to the public good; yet it should be short enough to make him feel his responsibility.  And it should be long enough to insure a due degree of independence, and to enable him to carry out his system of public policy.  The term of four years was accordingly adopted.

Sec.4.  Thirdly, the mode of election.  Among the various modes proposed, the one adopted was that of electing the president by electors chosen in the several states for that purpose; the number of the electors chosen in each state to be equal to the number of its senators and representatives in congress.  A material alteration in the mode of election has been made since the adoption of the constitution, as will be seen by examining the two modes. (Art. 2, Sec.1; and Art. 12 of Amendments.) This amendment does not change the manner of choosing the electors, but the manner of choosing the president by the electors.

Sec.5.  The constitution does not prescribe the manner in which the electors shall be appointed or chosen; it only declares that each state shall appoint them “in such manner as the legislature thereof shall direct.”  No uniform mode was adopted by the different states.  In some states the electors were appointed by the legislature; in others, by the people.  At present the latter mode prevails in all the states except South Carolina, where presidential electors are still chosen by the legislature.

Sec.6.  The electors are, by the laws of the several states, chosen by general ticket.  The names of two men, corresponding to the number of senators to which a state is entitled in congress, together with the names of as many others as there are representatives of the state in the lower house of congress, one to reside in each congressional district, are all placed on the same ballot; so that every voter votes for the whole number of presidential electors to be chosen in the state.  And, by a law of congress, the electors are required to be chosen in all the states on the same day, which is the Tuesday next after the first Monday of November.

Sec.7.  The electors so chosen are required by a law of congress, to meet in their respective states on the first Wednesday of December, and vote for president and vice-president; and to make and sign three certificates of all the votes given by them, and seal up the same.  One of these is to be sent by a person duly appointed by them, to the president of the senate at the seat of government, before the first of January next ensuing; another is to be forwarded by mail, also directed to the president of the senate; and the third is to be delivered to the United States judge of the district in which the electors are assembled.