
The Electoral College is a process, established by the Founding Fathers in the US Constitution, as a compromise between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens. The Constitution is filled with provisions that grant Congress or the States specific powers to legislate in certain areas. This includes the power to elect the President, which is not done directly by the people, but by the people's electors.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| How was the Electoral College established? | The Founding Fathers established the Electoral College in the Constitution as an alternative to electing the president by popular vote or by Congress. |
| How does the Electoral College work? | The Electoral College consists of 538 electors. A majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the President. Each state elects the number of representatives to the Electoral College that is equal to its number of Senators (two from each state) plus its number of delegates in the House of Representatives. |
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What You'll Learn
- The Electoral College was created as an alternative to electing the president by popular vote or by Congress
- The Founding Fathers established the Electoral College in the Constitution
- The Electoral College is a process, not a place
- The Electoral College consists of 538 electors
- The District of Columbia has three Electoral College votes

The Electoral College was created as an alternative to electing the president by popular vote or by Congress
The Electoral College was created by the Founding Fathers as an alternative to electing the president by popular vote or by Congress. It was established in the US Constitution as a compromise between the two methods of electing the president.
The Electoral College is a process, not a place. It consists of the selection of electors, a meeting of the electors where they vote for President and Vice President, and the counting of the electoral votes by Congress. Each state elects a number of representatives to the Electoral College that is equal to its number of Senators (two from each state) plus its number of delegates in the House of Representatives. The District of Columbia, which has no voting representation in Congress, has three Electoral College votes. There are currently 538 electors in the Electoral College; 270 votes are needed to win the presidential election.
The Electoral College was designed to ensure that the president is elected not directly by the people, but by the people's electors. This means that the president is not chosen by popular vote, but by a body of electors who are selected by the people. The number of electors each state has is based on the state's population and electoral votes.
The Electoral College has been criticised for being undemocratic and for not always reflecting the popular vote. However, it was created as a compromise between the election of the president by Congress and by popular vote, and it is still in place today.
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The Founding Fathers established the Electoral College in the Constitution
The Electoral College process consists of the selection of the electors, the meeting of the electors where they vote for President and Vice President, and the counting of the electoral votes by Congress. Each state elects the number of representatives to the Electoral College that is equal to its number of Senators (two from each state) plus its number of delegates in the House of Representatives. The District of Columbia, which has no voting representation in Congress, has three Electoral College votes. There are currently 538 electors in the Electoral College; 270 votes are needed to win the presidential election.
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The Electoral College is a process, not a place
The Electoral College process consists of the selection of the electors, the meeting of the electors where they vote for President and Vice President, and the counting of the electoral votes by Congress. Each state elects the number of representatives to the Electoral College that is equal to its number of Senators (two from each state) plus its number of delegates in the House of Representatives. The District of Columbia, which has no voting representation in Congress, has three Electoral College votes.
There are currently 538 electors in the Electoral College; 270 votes are needed to win the presidential election.
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The Electoral College consists of 538 electors
The Electoral College is a process, not a place. It was established by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution as a compromise between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens. The Electoral College consists of 538 electors. Each state elects the number of representatives to the Electoral College that is equal to its number of Senators (two from each state) plus its number of delegates in the House of Representatives. The District of Columbia, which has no voting representation in Congress, has three Electoral College votes. A majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the President.
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The District of Columbia has three Electoral College votes
The Electoral College was established by the Founding Fathers 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 elects the number of representatives to the Electoral College that is equal to its number of Senators (two from each state) plus its number of delegates in the House of Representatives.
The District of Columbia, which has no voting representation in Congress, has three Electoral College votes. This is because the 23rd Amendment of the Constitution states that the District of Columbia is allocated three electors and treated like a state for the purposes of the Electoral College. The District of Columbia is the only non-state to be enfranchised for presidential elections, gaining electoral votes through the ratification of the 23rd Amendment in 1961. The amendment gave residents of the nation's capital a share of electors proportional to its population, but limited it to no more electors than the least populous state. The District of Columbia has participated in 16 presidential elections since the enactment of the 23rd Amendment. The Democratic Party has immense political strength in the district, with the district voting for the Democratic candidate in each of the 16 presidential elections.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes, the Electoral College was established by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution.
The Electoral College consists of 538 electors. Each state elects a number of representatives to the Electoral College that is equal to its number of Senators (two from each state) plus its number of delegates in the House of Representatives. A majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the President.
The Electoral College was created 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.
Electors are chosen by their state's political parties.

























