Eleanor Finch
The Electoral College is a process, not a place, and it is the fourth national institution created by the US Constitution. It was established by the Founding Fathers 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 process involves the selection of electors, who then meet and vote for the President and Vice President. The number of electors each state appoints is equal to the number of Senators and Representatives the state has in Congress. The Electoral College process is outlined in Article II, Section 1, Clauses 2 and 3 of the Constitution, and it would take a constitutional amendment to change it.
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What You'll Learn
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 gets as many electors as it has members of Congress (House and Senate). There are currently 538 electors in total, and a majority of 270 electoral votes are required to elect the President. Each candidate running for President in a state has their own group of electors (known as a slate). The slates are generally chosen by the candidate's political party in that state, but state laws vary on how electors are selected and what their responsibilities are.
The electors meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for two persons, one of whom cannot be an inhabitant of the same state as themselves. They then make a list of the persons voted for and the number of votes each person received. This list is signed, certified, and transmitted to the US government, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate then opens all the certificates, and the votes are counted. The person with the greatest number of votes becomes the President, provided they have a majority of the whole number of electors appointed. If there is a tie, the House of Representatives chooses the President by ballot.
The Electoral College process is outlined in Article II, Section 1, Clauses 2 and 3 of the Constitution. It would take a constitutional amendment to change the process.
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Electors are chosen by each state
The Electoral College is a process, not a place, established by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution. It is the fourth national institution created by the Constitution, alongside the Congress, the presidency, and the Court. The College was established 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 consists of 538 electors, with each state getting as many electors as it has members of Congress (House and Senate). Each candidate running for President in a state has their own group of electors (known as a slate). The slates are generally chosen by the candidate's political party in the state, but state laws vary on how electors are selected and what their responsibilities are. The most common method of choosing electors is by state party convention, where each political party's state convention nominates a slate of electors, and a vote is held at the convention. In a smaller number of states, electors are chosen by a vote of the state party's central committee. Electors can be elected officials or party leaders in the state, or people who have some kind of personal or professional connection with the party's candidate.
The U.S. Constitution contains very few provisions relating to the qualifications of electors. Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 provides that no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an elector. Additionally, the 14th Amendment disqualifies state officials who have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States or given aid and comfort to its enemies from serving as electors.
While the Constitution does not require electors to vote for the candidate chosen by their state's popular vote, some states do. Electors generally hold a leadership position in their party or were chosen to recognize their years of loyal service to the party. In most cases, electors vote as pledged, and more than 99% of electors have done so throughout history. However, the rare elector who votes for someone else may face consequences such as fines, disqualification, or even prosecution by their state.
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Electors meet in their states and vote for two people
The Electoral College is a process established by the Founding Fathers in the US Constitution. It is not a place. The College consists of 538 electors, with each state having as many electors as it has members of Congress (House and Senate).
The Electors meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for two people, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same state as themselves. The Electors make a list of all the persons voted for, and the number of votes for each, which they sign, certify, and transmit sealed to the US government, directed to the President of the Senate. This process is outlined in Article II, Section 1, Clause 3 of the Constitution.
The two-vote feature of the Electoral College has led to some problems in the past. In the 1800 election, Democratic-Republican Thomas Jefferson and his running mate, Aaron Burr, tied with 73-73 votes. Burr refused to stand down, throwing the process into the House of Representatives, which eventually chose Jefferson as President.
The selection of Electors is generally done by the candidate's political party in each state, but the process varies from state to state. The “winner-take-all” system, where the winner of the state's popular vote receives all the state's electoral votes, is used in most states. However, Maine and Nebraska have a variation of “proportional representation."
The Electoral College process is a compromise between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and a popular vote of qualified citizens. It is important to note that the Constitution does not require electors to vote for the candidate chosen by their state's popular vote, although some states mandate this.
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Electors' votes are counted by Congress
The Electoral College is a process established by the Founding Fathers in the US Constitution to govern the selection of the president and vice president. 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 Electoral College consists of 538 electors, with each state getting as many electors as it has members of Congress (House and Senate). The District of Columbia is allocated three electors and is treated like a state for Electoral College purposes under the 23rd Amendment of the Constitution.
Each candidate running for President in a state has their own group of electors, generally chosen by the candidate's political party in that state. The electors meet in their respective states and vote for the President and Vice President. The electors' votes are then sent to Congress to be counted and tabulated in the first week of January before a joint meeting of the Senate and the House of Representatives, presided over by the incumbent vice president, acting as president of the Senate.
The process of counting the electors' votes by Congress is outlined in Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution. The President of the Senate opens all the certificates containing the electors' votes in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, and the votes are then counted. The person with the majority of votes (at least 270 out of 538) becomes the President-elect. If no candidate receives a majority of electoral votes, the vote goes to the House of Representatives, as decided by the Twelfth Amendment.
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The Founding Fathers established the Electoral College as a compromise
The Founding Fathers established the Electoral College, a process for selecting the President and Vice President of the United States. It is enshrined in Article II of the Constitution and was designed as a compromise between two competing visions for how the President should be chosen.
On the one hand, some of the Founding Fathers wanted the President to be elected by a popular vote of qualified citizens. On the other hand, some believed that the President should be elected by a vote in Congress. The Electoral College was the compromise that emerged from these two perspectives.
The Electoral College consists of 538 electors, who are selected by each state. The number of electors from each state is equal to the number of that state's members in Congress (both the House of Representatives and the Senate). In most states, the winner of the statewide popular vote receives all of that state's electoral votes. However, the Constitution does not require electors to vote for the candidate chosen by their state's popular vote, and some electors have deviated from this norm.
The electors then meet in their respective states to vote for the President and Vice President. Each elector casts ballots for two candidates, with the second-place finisher becoming Vice-President. The votes are then sent to the President of the Senate, who opens the certificates in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, and the votes are counted. A majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the President. If no candidate receives a majority, the decision goes to the House of Representatives, and the Vice-President is chosen by the Senate.
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Frequently asked questions
The Electoral College is a process, not a place. It is a system of selecting the President and Vice President of the United States.
Each state has a group of electors, equal to the number of Senators and Representatives in its Congressional delegation. These electors meet in their respective states and vote for two people, one of whom cannot be from the same state as themselves. The votes are then counted, and the person with the majority of votes becomes the President.
Electors are chosen by the state's political parties or by a district system. They are generally selected by the candidate's political party, but the method of selection varies from state to state.
Yes, the Electoral College is mentioned in Article II, Section 1, Clauses 2 and 3 of the Constitution. 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.
Yes, it can be changed through a constitutional amendment.
