=Choice of the President by the Electors.=--The electors, on the second Monday of January following their election, assemble in their respective state capitals for the purpose of choosing the President.[63] The Constitution as it now stands requires the electors to vote by ballot for President and by a distinct ballot vote for Vice President, and make separate lists of all persons voted for as President and of all persons voted for as Vice President. [63] The day on which the electors assemble must be the same throughout the Union. The purpose of this requirement is to prevent deals or bargains among the electoral "colleges" of the different states. Moreover, meeting on the same day, the action of one state cannot be used to influence that of another. In 1857 the electors of Wisconsin were prevented by a snowstorm from assembling at the state capital on the day fixed by law. On the day following they met and cast the vote of the state for Frémont. But when the question of counting Wisconsin's vote came up in Congress, objection was made that it had not been cast on the day prescribed by law. As the vote of the state was not decisive, the matter did not become serious. _The Original Method._--The Constitution as originally adopted did not require the electors in casting their ballots to indicate the person for whom they were voting as President and whom for Vice President, or to prepare distinct lists. The one who received the highest vote (if a majority) was to be President, and the one receiving the next highest number (whether a majority or not) was to be Vice President. The result of this method of choosing the President was that as soon as political parties were formed and the electors came to vote strictly on the basis of party there would be a tie between the two persons highest on the list, and as there was nothing to show on the record which was intended for President and which for Vice President there would be no election. This happened in 1801, when Jefferson and Burr each received seventy-three electoral votes, and the choice between them had to be made by the house of representatives as the Constitution provides. _Twelfth Amendment._--To remove the difficulty, the Twelfth Amendment was adopted in 1804, requiring the electors in preparing their ballots to indicate their choice for President and their choice for Vice President so that the person intended for the latter office could not be confused with the person intended for President. The amendment also requires a majority of the electoral vote to elect the Vice President as well as the President.