I know that there were a few time when a candidate didn’t win the popular vote, but when the Electoral College votes were tallied came out on top. My question, though, is has a EC delegate ever gone against his states popular vote and changed the outcome of the election. Also, can EC delegates split their votes.
thanks in advance for the SD…
There have been cases of “unfaithful electors”, but none have ever changed the outcome of an election. States can divide up their electoral votes anyway they want (and I believe Maine apportions them by congressional district, but I am not sure).
However, it’s not in a state’s interest to split its vote if no one else does. California is better served giving all 52 of its electoral votes to one candidate rather than giving 28 to one candidate and 24 to the other.
Well, the EC delegates are selected by the party BEFORE the election, and at the election, you select the delegate, not the president. Since the delegates are selected before the election from among the party faithfulm it is very unlikely that they would shcoose someone who would step out of line and vote for the other party. (I had a friend who was an EC delegate candidate from Ohio in 1984. Alas, Ohio voted for Reagan, and he was a democrat, so he never got to vote…) I’m sure it has happpened once or twice, but never to effect the outcome of an election.
For a truly bizzare Electoral College “incident” however, look closely at the Hayes-Tilden election of 1876. The question was not how the Electoral College members would vote; rather it was whoch EC candidates had actually won the election. Irregular voting results (i.e. someone cheated) from South Carolina meant that the results were held up, and neither parties candidate’s for EC were seated in the EC. Since Tilden and Hayes were like (and I may have the number wrong here) 18 EC votes apart, and S.C. counted for 19 votes, it was VERY important how the votes would go. Making a long story less long, a commission of 9 members decided that the results in Hayes favor were valis, and Hayes became president.
As far as splitting EC votes, Each state determines for itself how to organize it’s EC members… most states are all or none affairs, though a few (Maine, IIRC, comes to mind) vote by congressional district and not by state for EC members, and could in theory split, though it is rare when they do.
I view 1876 as deciding which side cheated less. Both parties were guilty of election fraud in some way. It just depends upon the degree.
You can learn all you want to know about the Electoral College at http://www.nara.gov/fedreg/ec-hmpge.html
An elector can vote for anyone he or she pleases. They are usually pledged to vote for a particular candidate, but there is no law requiring them to cast their vote for that candidate when the tally is made. However, electors are always chosen from loyal party members; if they vote against the party’s candidate, they can kiss their political careers goodbye.
A smattering of electors have voted differently than their state’s popular vote. Lloyd Benson received one electoral vote for president in 1988. In 1976, one Republican elector cast a vote for Ronald Reagan instead of Gerald Ford, for instance (I suppose that didn’t hurt him. 
). In 1960, 15 electors voted for Harry Byrd (6 were pledged to JFK, one to Nixon, and 8 were unpledged). They also voted for Strom Thurmond (14) and Barry Goldwater (1) for Vice President.
In 1872, the Democratic candidate, Horace Greely, died before election day, so Democratic electors split their votes. But since Grant won a majority, it didn’t make any difference.
In 1876, of course, everything was a mess. Tilden won in the popular vote, and was one vote short in the electoral vote, but there were disputed electors. A commission voted on a straight party line to seat only the Republican electors, ensuring Hayes victory. However, everyone voted for the candidate to which they were pledged.
You can get the details at http://www.uselectionatlas.org/
Electors can’t split votes. They get one vote for president and another for VP.
Maine does apportion electors by congressional district. Whoever wins the state-wide popular vote gets 2 electors. Whoever wins each of the 2 congressional districts’ popular vote wins one elector. This system has been in place about 20 years I think, and the vote has never been split yet. Whoever wins the state-wide vote has always (so far) won both congressional districts. I think I read that Nebraska does it the same way.