Eleanor Finch
The Electoral College is a process outlined in the U.S. Constitution for electing the President and Vice President of the United States. It was established by the Founding Fathers as a compromise between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and a popular vote of qualified citizens. The College consists of 538 electors, with each state allocated electors equal to the number of its representatives and senators. The electors meet and vote in their respective states, and a candidate must win a majority of at least 270 electoral votes to win the election.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Purpose | To select the president and vice president of the United States |
| Number of Electors | 538 |
| Majority Needed to Elect President | 270 |
| Timing | Electors meet in their states in mid-December, Congress counts the votes on January 6, and the President-Elect is sworn in on January 20 |
| Popular Vote | The popular vote does not directly elect the president and vice president, but it does determine which party's electors will be appointed in most states |
| State Representation | Each state has electors equal to its number of representatives in Congress (House and Senate) plus two senators |
| District of Columbia Representation | Three electors |
| "Winner-Take-All" System | Most states award all electors to the candidate who wins the state's popular vote, but Maine and Nebraska have a form of proportional representation |
| Faithless Electors | Electors are generally expected to vote for the winner of the popular vote in their state, but this is not required by the Constitution |
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What You'll Learn
The Electoral College is a process, not a place
The process of using electors comes from the Constitution. The Electoral College consists of 538 electors, and a majority of 270 electoral votes are required to elect the President. Each state gets as many electors as it has members of Congress (House and Senate). The state's popular vote determines which party's slates will be made electors. Members of the Electoral College meet and vote in their respective states on the Monday after the second Wednesday in December after Election Day. Electors are expected to honour the will of the voters, but they are not bound by the popular vote.
The Electoral College process includes the selection of electors, the meeting of the electors where they vote for President and Vice President, and the counting of the electoral votes by Congress. Electors are chosen by each state, and each state's political parties select their slate of potential electors. Electors are required to vote for the candidate chosen by their state's popular vote, but some electors have voted against the popular vote winner in their states, known as "faithless electors".
The Electoral College was also established to address the unequal population distribution between the northern and southern states at the time of the Constitutional Convention. The southern states, which had a higher concentration of enslaved people, objected to a direct popular vote in presidential elections as it would have given them less electoral representation.
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Electors are chosen by each state
The Electoral College is a process established by the Founding Fathers in the US Constitution. It is a compromise between electing the President by a vote in Congress and a popular vote of qualified citizens. Each state chooses its electors, who then meet to vote for the President and Vice President. The number of electors each state gets is equal to the number of its members of Congress (House and Senate). This means that each state has one elector for each member in the House of Representatives plus two Senators. The District of Columbia, which does not have voting representation in Congress, is allocated three electors and is treated like a state for Electoral College purposes under the 23rd Amendment.
The selection of electors is the first step in the Electoral College process. Voters in each state choose electors to serve in the Electoral College, and each state's political parties choose their slate of potential electors. While the Constitution grants state legislatures the power to decide how to appoint their electors, the method of selection varies by state. Initially, several state legislatures directly selected their electors, but during the 19th century, most states transitioned to the popular vote system, which is now used by all 50 states.
In most states, the winner of the state's popular vote determines which party's slate will become electors. This is known as the "winner-take-all" system, where the Presidential candidate who wins the popular vote in a state is awarded all of that state's electors. However, Maine and Nebraska have a variation of "proportional representation" instead of the "winner-take-all" system. While the Constitution does not require electors to vote for the candidate chosen by their state's popular vote, some states mandate this, and electors who vote against their state's popular vote winner may face consequences such as fines or disqualification.
After the general election, the state's executive prepares a Certificate of Ascertainment, listing the names of the individuals on the slates for each candidate, the number of votes each received, and the appointed electors for the state. This certificate is sent to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) as part of the official records of the Presidential election. The electors from each state then meet in their respective states to cast their official votes for President and Vice President. The meeting typically takes place on the first Tuesday or Monday after the second Wednesday in December after the general election.
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Electors meet and vote in their respective states
The Electoral College is a process, not a place, established by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution. It is 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 consists of 538 electors, and a majority of 270 votes are required to elect the President.
The Electoral College process involves the selection of electors, the meeting of the electors where they vote for President and Vice President, and the counting of the electoral votes by Congress. Electors are chosen by voters in each state to serve in the Electoral College. The popular vote determines which party's slates will be made electors.
After the electors have voted, they must make a list of all the persons voted for and the number of votes each person received. This list is then signed, certified, and transmitted to the Seat of the Government of the United States, addressed to the President of the Senate.
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Congress counts the votes
The Electoral College is a process, not a place, established by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution. It was designed as a compromise between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and election by a popular vote of qualified citizens.
The process of electing the President of the United States involves the selection of electors, the meeting of the electors where they vote for President and Vice President, and the counting of the electoral votes by Congress.
The Electoral College consists of 538 electors. Each state gets as many electors as it has members of Congress (House and Senate). A majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the President. The District of Columbia is allocated 3 electors and is treated like a state for the purposes of the Electoral College.
After the general election, each state's executive prepares a Certificate of Ascertainment listing the names of all the individuals on the slates for each candidate, the number of votes each received, and the appointed electors for the state. The Certificate of Ascertainment is sent to NARA as part of the official records of the Presidential election.
The electors meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for two people, one of whom cannot be from the same state as themselves. They then make a list of the people voted for and the number of votes each person received. This list is signed, certified, and transmitted sealed to the US government.
On January 6, a joint session of Congress meets at the Capitol to count the electoral votes and declare the outcome of the election. The President of the Senate opens all the certificates, and the votes are counted in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives. The person with the greatest number of votes becomes the President, and the person with the second-highest number of votes becomes the Vice President.
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The candidate with the majority of votes wins
The Electoral College is a process, not a place. It 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 election by a popular vote of qualified citizens.
The Electoral College consists of 538 electors, with each state allocated presidential electors equal to the number of its representatives and senators. The District of Columbia, which has no voting representation in Congress, has three Electoral College votes.
In most states, the candidate who wins the state's popular vote is awarded all of that state's electors. This is known as a "winner-take-all" system. However, electors are not required by the Constitution to vote for the candidate chosen by their state's popular vote. In some states, electors are expected to honour the will of the voters, and they may face consequences for voting against the popular vote winner.
The process of selecting the President and Vice President through the Electoral College involves several steps. First, voters in each state choose electors to serve in the Electoral College. Then, the electors meet in their respective states and vote for two individuals, at least one of whom must not be from the same state as themselves. The person with the second-highest number of votes becomes the Vice President, while the person with the highest number of votes becomes the President-Elect.
To win the presidential election, a candidate must receive a majority of at least 270 electoral votes. If no candidate receives a majority, the decision goes to the House of Representatives.
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Frequently asked questions
The Electoral College is a process, not a place, that is used to elect the President of the United States. It consists of 538 electors, and a majority of 270 electoral votes are required to elect the President.
The Electoral College process consists of the selection of electors, the meeting of the electors where they vote for President and Vice President, and the counting of the electoral votes by Congress. The state's popular vote determines which party's slates will be made 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.
The method of choosing electors varies by state. Electors are typically chosen by the state's political parties, and in most states, a "winner-take-all" system is used, where the winner of the state's popular vote receives all of the state's electoral votes.
