RETAINING THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE

WHEREAS, the Electoral College encourages political stability by fostering the two-party system, thereby hampering the growth of one-issue, splinter parties; and

WHEREAS, the present system ordinarily gives the winner a clear mandate because of the majority vote required in the Electoral College, while a popular vote system will frequently-perhaps even usually- produce a winner who received less than a majority; and

WHEREAS, the possibility that close votes in a direct election will require recounts on a national basis, which could greatly weaken the effectiveness of the executive; and

WHEREAS, the direct election will reduce the importance of industrial states and the wide influence of organized labor and minority groups; and

WHEREAS, the Electoral College system assumes that there are legitimate differences in the interests of the various states, and that these differences can have their impact in Presidential elections only if the candidates can appeal to state electorates as units:

RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers supports the retention of the Electoral College system.