[Verginius Rufus]

They could figure this all out from 9 individuals?

We could save a lot of money by just selecting 9 people to decide who will be President. Of course it would have to be the right 9 people.

[JackOfVA]

“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