Isabella Carter
The Electoral College is a process that was established by the Founding Fathers in the US Constitution as a compromise between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and the election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens. The College is made up of 538 electors, who meet and vote for the President and Vice President. The College has been criticised as archaic and ambiguous and there have been over 700 proposals to reform or eliminate it. However, as the Electoral College is a part of the original design of the US Constitution, it would require a Constitutional amendment to change the system.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Founding Fathers established it in the Constitution | To compromise between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens |
| Number of Electors | 538 |
| Majority Electoral Votes required to elect the President | 270 |
| District of Columbia | 3 electors |
| Electors | Chosen by voters in each state |
| Electors | Meet in their states in mid-December to vote |
| Electors | Vote for President and Vice President |
| Congress | Counts the votes |
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What You'll Learn
The Electoral College's impact on Black voters
The Electoral College is a process that was established by the Founding Fathers in the US Constitution. It involves the selection of electors, who then meet to vote for the President and Vice President. The College consists of 538 electors, with each state allocated electors equal to the number of its representatives and senators. A majority of 270 votes are required to elect the President.
The Electoral College has been criticised for its impact on Black voters and its racist origins. Designed to empower Southern white voters, critics argue that the Electoral College continues to dilute the political power of Black voters. As the Black population is concentrated in certain states, their preferred presidential candidate often loses those states' electoral votes. This means that Black votes are ""submerged", with the winner-take-all system in most states resulting in Black voters' preferred candidates losing despite their fervent support.
The Electoral College was created in part to compromise between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and a popular vote of citizens. However, critics argue that this has resulted in racial disparities, with the system privileging white votes over those of racial minorities. The South, in particular, benefited from the three-fifths clause before the Civil War, which gave them extra votes in Congress and thus extra electoral votes. This was despite the fact that enslaved Black people could not vote.
Efforts to reform the Electoral College have faced challenges. Some argue that a national popular vote would give too much power to the federal government and overwhelm rural areas and less populous states. However, others counter that the Electoral College encourages presidential campaigns to focus only on a small number of swing states. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPV) has been proposed as a workaround, with participating states awarding their electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote. This would ensure that the winner of the popular vote becomes the President.
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The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact
The NPVIC was introduced in 2006, after the 2000 election, in which George W. Bush won the electoral college vote but lost the popular vote to Al Gore. This "electoral misfire" sparked new studies and proposals from scholars and activists on electoral college reform, ultimately leading to the NPVIC. As of April 2025, 17 states and the District of Columbia have joined the compact, representing 209 electoral votes, or 39% of the Electoral College. For the NPVIC to take effect, it must be adopted by states that control at least 270 electoral votes, representing an absolute majority of votes in the Electoral College.
The NPVIC does not eliminate the Electoral College or affect faithless elector laws; it merely changes how electors are pledged by the participating states. Each state gets as many electors as it has members of Congress (House and Senate), including Washington, D.C.'s three electors, for a total of 538 electors. In most states, the winner of the state's popular vote is awarded all that state's electors, but the Constitution does not require electors to vote for the candidate chosen by their state's popular vote. The NPVIC would incentivize presidential candidates to expand their campaign efforts nationwide, rather than focus only on a small number of swing states.
The current system of winner-take-all laws at the state level can lead to a situation where the winner of the Electoral College is not the winner of the popular vote. This has happened five times in history, most recently in 2016. It can also lead to a situation where a small number of votes in a small number of states decides the presidency, as in 2020, when Joe Biden led by over 7 million votes nationally, but 21,461 voters in three states could have changed the outcome.
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The process of appointing electors
The Electoral College is a group of intermediaries designated by the Constitution to select the president and vice president of the United States. The Founding Fathers established it in the Constitution as a compromise between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and the election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens.
- Each state gets as many electors as it has members of Congress (both the House of Representatives and the Senate).
- Each state's political parties choose their own slate of potential electors.
- The voters in each state cast votes for the presidential candidate of their choice, and by doing so, they are voting for their state's electors.
- The winning presidential candidate's slate of potential electors are appointed as the state's electors.
- The state executive of each state signs the Certificate of Ascertainment to appoint the electors chosen in the general election.
- The electors in each state meet to select the President and Vice President of the United States.
- Congress meets in a joint session to count the electoral votes.
- The President-elect is sworn in as President of the United States.
It is important to note that the process of appointing electors may vary slightly from state to state, and the Constitution grants state legislatures the power to decide how to appoint their electors. While most states have a "winner-take-all" system, Maine and Nebraska have a variation of "proportional representation". Additionally, the Constitution does not require electors to vote for the candidate chosen by their state's popular vote, but some states do have specific voting requirements.
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The constitutionality of abolishing the Electoral College
The Electoral College is a process established by the Founding Fathers in the US Constitution. It involves the selection of electors, who then meet to vote for the President and Vice President. The College comprises 538 electors, with each state allocated electors equal to the number of its representatives and senators. A majority of 270 votes are required to elect the President.
The Electoral College was established as a compromise between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and a popular vote of qualified citizens. However, over time, the College has faced increasing criticism and calls for its abolition have grown louder. The main argument for abolishing the College is that it no longer serves its original purpose and risks a candidate who is not favoured by a majority of people being elected President. This has happened on three occasions: John Quincy Adams, Benjamin Harrison, and George W. Bush were elected despite not winning the popular vote.
The Electoral College has also been criticised for diluting the political power of Black voters, with the concentration of Black voters in certain states meaning their preferred candidate is unlikely to win that state's electoral votes. Additionally, the College creates an imbalance in political power between large and small states, with small states having more electoral power per capita.
Abolishing the Electoral College would require a constitutional amendment, which would need significant consensus, including two-thirds affirmation from both the House and the Senate, and approval from at least 38 out of 50 states. While there have been over 700 proposals to amend or abolish the College, none have been successful. An alternative workaround is the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPV), where participating states would award their electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote. However, this approach also faces legal and political challenges.
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The historical context of the Electoral College
The Electoral College is a process that was established by the Founding Fathers in the US Constitution as a compromise between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and the election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens. The term "electoral college" does not appear in the Constitution, but the process is part of the original design of the US.
The Founding Fathers debated for months, with some arguing that Congress should elect the President, while others insisted on a democratic popular vote. The delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention were divided between those who favoured slavery and those who did not. This was a significant issue, as approximately 40% of people in Southern states at the time were enslaved Black people, who could not vote. The Founding Fathers were also frustrated and tired, and they settled on the Electoral College as a compromise because they couldn't agree on anything else.
The Electoral College is a group of intermediaries designated by the Constitution to select the President and Vice President of the United States. Each state is allocated presidential electors equal to the number of its representatives and senators. The Electoral College consists of 538 electors, and a majority of 270 electoral votes are required to elect the President.
The process of using electors comes from the Constitution. Each state's political parties choose their own slate of potential electors, and the voters in each state choose electors to serve in the Electoral College. The electors then meet in their states to cast their ballots for the President and Vice President, and the electoral votes are counted by Congress. While the Constitution does not require electors to vote for the candidate chosen by their state's popular vote, most states have a ""winner-take-all" system where all electors are awarded to the candidate who wins the popular vote.
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Frequently asked questions
The Electoral College is a group of intermediaries designated by the US Constitution to select the president and vice president of the United States. It is a process, not a place.
The Electoral College consists of 538 electors. Each state gets as many electors as it has members of Congress (House and Senate). The electors meet in their states and cast their official votes for president and vice president. A majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the president and vice president.
The term "Electoral College" does not appear in the Constitution. However, the Electoral College process is outlined in Article II of the Constitution and the 12th Amendment, which refer to "electors". The Electoral College was established by the Founding Fathers as a compromise between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and the election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens.
Abolishing the Electoral College would require a constitutional amendment. As a workaround, some have proposed the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPV), which would award a state's electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote.
