Editing Indirect election (section)

=== United States ===
The [[President of the United States]] is elected indirectly. In a [[United States presidential election|US presidential election]], eligible members of the public vote for the [[Article Two of the United States Constitution|electors]] of an [[Electoral College (United States)|Electoral College]], who have previously pledged publicly to support a particular presidential candidate.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ross |first=Robert |date=2016 |title=Federalism and the Electoral College: The Development of the General Ticket Method for Selecting Presidential Electors |url=https://academic.oup.com/publius/article-abstract/46/2/147/2494081 |journal=Publius: The Journal of Federalism |volume=46 |issue=2 |pages=147–169|doi=10.1093/publius/pjv043 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> When the Electoral College sits, soon after the election, it formally elects the candidate that has won a majority of the members of the Electoral College. Members of the federal cabinet, including the vice president, are in practice nominated by the president, and are thus elected indirectly.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Uscinski |first=Joseph |date=January 2012 |title=Smith (and Jones) Go to Washington: Democracy and Vice-Presidential Selection |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/ps-political-science-and-politics/article/abs/smith-and-jones-go-to-washington-democracy-and-vicepresidential-selection/197A1E7EB858D9F70F2B56E469FC40D9 |journal=PS: Political Science & Politics |language=en |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=58–66 |doi=10.1017/S1049096511001715 |s2cid=155697464 |issn=1537-5935|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The Electoral College is a controversial issue in U.S. politics, especially following presidential elections when voting is polarized geographically in such a way that the electoral college [[List of United States presidential elections in which the winner lost the popular vote|elects a candidate who did not win an absolute majority of the popular vote]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Waller |first=Allyson |date=2021-01-05 |title=The Electoral College Explained |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/article/the-electoral-college.html |access-date=2023-04-10 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The [[National Popular Vote Interstate Compact]], if enacted, would effectively replace the indirect election via the Electoral College with a ''de facto'' [[Plurality voting|plurality]]-based direct election.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The National Popular Vote, Explained |url=https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/national-popular-vote-explained |access-date=2023-04-11 |website=www.brennancenter.org |date=21 April 2022 |language=en}}</ref>