Agencies Pool Resources To Cover Elections

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30588, 3 November 1964, Page 11

Agencies Pool Resources To Cover Elections

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter) NEW YORK. Tens of millions of Americans following the Presidential election results through the night of November 3/4 will this year for the first time see uniform vote totals mounting up on their television screens and in the newspapers.

But even this new method of collecting a running picture of voting across the country is unofficial. It will be the result of a pooling of efforts by tens of thousands of reporters for the three major television networks and the two domestic news agencies.

If President Lyndon John-I son scores the landslide for| which Democrats hope, the'

I result could be known by 12 p,m. New Zealand time on (November 4. That would be

within an hour of the closing of the polls in California and other states in the Western time zone. If Senator Barry Goldwater confounds the pollsters and makes a close fight of it for the Republicans, the result may not be known until 9 p.m. or later, New Zealand time, on November 4. The official results will not be announced until a day or two later. But it is usual for a candidate to concede the election as soon as his private information, together with the results collected by the newsgathering organisations, shows that his race has failed. Results Pool The results pool organisation, which has been named the Network Election Service, ' will use 130,000 full and , part-time reporters to funnel returns from 181,000 polling stations to a tabulating centre in New York City. In addition ; to the popular vote totals for ■ President, they will record 1 votes cast for the 35 (out of ’ 100) Senate seats at stake ’ this year, all 435 seats in the 1 House of Representatives and i the 25 (out of 50) State Gov- i ernorships which fall vacant ! this year. The Network Election Service replaces the costly individual efforts of the various networks and news agencies, whose differing methods of collection have often in the past led to apparent variations in running popular vote totals. The United States Census Bureau expects about 72,000,000 Americans to turn out to vote on November 3 if the 1960 voting rate is repeated. The Bureau estimates that there will be nearly 114,000,000 men and women of voting age on election day compared With 109,000,000 in 1960, when the late President John Kennedy narrowly | defeated his Republican opponent, Vice - President Richard Nixon. The actual machinery of electing a President and VicePresident every four years has come through unchanged since the Constitution was drawn up in 1788, and many it as unnecessarily complicated and cumbersome in this space age. Indirect Ballot In fact, the President and Vice-President are the only elective federal officials not chosen by direct vote of the people. There is no such thing as a national popular vote for the two top jobs. On election day, voters cast their ballots for members of the Electoral College, who in turn choose the President and Vice-President. The Electoral College is a ghost. Its members never meet as a body and are usually unknown outside their own district. The electors meet in their 50 State capitals and in the Federal District of Columbia (Washington) on December 14 to cast the official votes which decide who will be President. Each State is allotted as many electors as its total of Senators and Congressman combined. In 1961, the District of Columbia was given three electors for the first time, bringing the national total up to 538. A majority of 270 electors is therefore necessary to choose a President and Vice-President. This gives the most populous States great political leverage, since each State’s electoral vote goes in a bloc to the candidate who wins most popular votes in that State, even though his majority is only one. This winner-take-all system leads to intensive courting of the larger States during the campaign. For instance, a combination of the 11 most populous States, plus, say, the District of Columbia with its three electoral votes, can provide an electoral college majority for a candidate, even if his opponent carries the other 49 States. Key States It is possible, and has happened three times, for a candidate to win fewer popular votes nationally than his opponent and yet be elected. If he carries the big 11 plus the District of Columbia by small margins and loses the other 39 States by large margins, he still takes over the White House. The big eleven are: New York with 43 electoral votes, California with 40, Pennsylvania with 29, Illinois with 26, Ohio with 26, Texas with 25, Michigan with 21. New Jersey with 17.

with 14, Florida with 14, and Indiana with 13.

The Electoral College system was devised in 1788 when the two-party system was not envisaged. The Electoral College was to be composed of the most experienced man in each State, who, in their wisdom, would choose the best man to be President. These electors were selected by the people of their own States. Though either Mr Johnson or Senator Goldwater will know on November 4 that he will be President for four years, the inauguration will take place in Washington on January 20, 1965. This pause is also a relic of more leisurely days. It was intended to give a new President time to wind up his personal affairs and travel from his home to the capital. Two Phases There are two phases if the President-elect dies before January 20. The first is from the close of balloting on November 3 until December 14, when the State electors meet to cast their votes, and the second from December 14 until Inauguration Day, January 20. If the President-elect dies before December 14, the State electors are not bound to choose the vice-president-elect automatically. In practice, according to a study by the Library of Congress, the electors “very probably would be guided unofficially by the leaders of the party with which they are affiliated”— that is, the Democratic or Republican National Committees. If the President-elect dies between December 14 and Inauguration Day, the Vice-Pre-sident-elect automatically becomes President.