<P> Article Two of the United States Constitution originally established the method of presidential elections, including the Electoral College . This was a result of a compromise between those constitutional framers who wanted the Congress to choose the president, and those who preferred a national popular vote . </P> <P> Each state is allocated a number of electors that is equal to the size of its delegation in both houses of Congress combined . With the ratification of the 23rd Amendment to the Constitution in 1961, the District of Columbia is also granted a number of electors, equal to the number of those held by the least populous state . However, U.S. territories are not represented in the Electoral College . </P> <P> Constitutionally, the manner for choosing electors is determined within each state by its legislature . During the first presidential election in 1789, only 6 of the 13 original states chose electors by any form of popular vote . Gradually throughout the years, the states began conducting popular elections to help choose their slate of electors, resulting in the overall, nationwide indirect election system that it is today . </P> <P> Under the original system established by Article Two, electors could cast two votes to two different candidates for president . The candidate with the highest number of votes (provided it was a majority of the electoral votes) became the president, and the second - place candidate became the vice president . This presented a problem during the presidential election of 1800 when Aaron Burr received the same number of electoral votes as Thomas Jefferson and challenged Jefferson's election to the office . In the end, Jefferson was chosen as the president because of Alexander Hamilton's influence in the House of Representatives . This added to the deep rivalry between Burr and Hamilton which resulted in their famous 1804 duel . </P>

When did the popular vote for president begin