Dig Deeper: Are U.S. senators and the president elected directly by voters today?

Yes and no.

Jackson’s call for the direct election of senators wasn’t heeded until 1913 when the 17th amendment to the constitution was ratified. Before this, state legislatures elected the state’s U.S. senators. Now voters directly elect their senators.
To learn more about the 17th amendment, go here. 

 

U.S. presidents are still not elected by directly by voters. Voters instead cast their vote for electors pledged to a certain candidate. These electors then meet in December to choose the president. 

 

Because the entire state’s electoral votes go to the candidate who has the most votes, even though he may only win a small majority, this can cause problems. It is possible for a candidate to have more popular votes and still lose in the Electoral College. 

 

This has happened three times--two times to men from Tennessee. The last time it involved a Tennessean was Al Gore Jr, in 2000. Gore won the popular vote by nearly 500,000 votes. But his opponent, George W. Bush, won more electoral votes, so he became president. Andrew Jackson would probably have said that this supported his argument that the people should directly elect the president.