“We could save a lot of money by just selecting 9 people to decide who will be President.”
See Isaac Asimov’s 1955 short story “Franchise.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franchise_%28short_story%29
The 1876 election came down to a commission of 15 men--5 from the House of Representatives, 5 from the Senate, 5 from the Supreme Court--to decide the 20 disputed electoral votes. If all of them went to the Republican candidate Hayes, he would be President by a vote of 185-184. If any of them went to the Democrat Tilden, he would be President. The 15 men included 7 Republicans, 7 Democrats, and 1 Independent (one of the Supreme Court justices). The Independent did not want to have half the country mad at him so he managed to get chosen for a Senate seat and resigned his Supreme Court position. The remaining justices were all Republicans so the commission wound up with an 8-7 Republican majority and Hayes became President.