_
Article II, Section 1, Clause 3. _The Congress may determine the time of
choosing the electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes,
which day shall be the same throughout the United States._
At present, the appointment of electors is a necessary but a
comparatively unimportant step in the election of a President.
The real power exists in the National conventions of the great political
parties. Instead of exercising the right of free choice, as they were
originally expected to do, the electors are really bound to vote for
candidates nominated in these conventions. Let us consider, then, some
of the chief points in the history and practical working of National
conventions.
Early Methods of Nominating.--Like the development of other
political usages, the method of nominating a President passed
through several stages before the present plan of nominating
conventions was reached. No nominations were made in the first two
Presidential elections.
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