Voters Elect, But Indirectly

By The Tampa Tribune
Published: May 12, 2008

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Regarding "The People Should Decide" (Letters, May 3):

The people of the United States do not choose the president - at least not directly.

The parties' candidates are chosen by the parties, by any method they decide. This may be through state-by-state primaries, regional or national primaries, primaries plus superdelegates or simply five guys in a room. Any voice the people get is at the discretion of the parties.

In the presidential election, all the votes are cast by members of the Electoral College. Technically, the people are voting to send electors to the College. Generally, we expect them to bow to the wishes of the popular vote in their state.

But no, "the people" do not choose either the candidates or the president.

JOSEPH DISCENZA

Tampa