Electoral College Functions

The Electoral College, unique to the United States, is where presidential electors from each state meet up after the popular election and cast ballots for the president and vice president (40). The Electoral College is essentially a compromise for the presidential election between the popular vote and the vote by congress. The United States election works through indirect elections; Americans go to the polls and voters will chose among slates of electors who are selected by the states party leadership. In the majority of states, the party candidate who obtains the popular vote will win all electoral college votes for that state, this is often called the “winner-take all” system. Electors in the Electoral College is comprised of 538 electors

The Electoral College is made up of 538 Electors. This number is an addition of 435 Representatives, 100 Senators and 3 District of Columbia electors. Every four years, the election is reborn, and citizens across the nation begin voting for their desired candidate. In all but two states, Nebraska and Maine, the majority votes win that states electoral vote. As for those two states, the votes are determined by proportional representation. The top voter in those two states receives two votes for their Senators. The rest of the votes are allocated by congressional district. What does this do? This gives the candidates an opportunity to gain votes from these to states instead of the winner-take-all that happens in the other 48 states. Finally, the selection of the electoral college differs from state to state. The majority of Electors are nominated by political parties at their conventions. Other times, the Party’s central committee casts a vote. These electors are either state elected officials, party leaders, or people with a strong affiliation with presidential candidates (What Is the Electoral College? How It Works and Why It Matters,

The Electoral College is a body that elects the President and Vice President of the United States. When Americans endeavor to vote for the President and Vice President, they are actually voting for Presidential Electors who comprise the Electoral College. These Electors elect the Chief Executive. The Constitution assigns each state a number of Electors based on population. The number of Electors per state ranges from 3 to 54. In most states, all the electoral votes for that state are assigned to the candidate who earns the most popular votes. Maine and Nebraska are exceptions that apportion their electoral votes. In order to win the Presidency, a candidate must get at least 270 of the electoral votes. While winning the

The electoral college is the process to elect a president by a votes from states. (American Government: Institutions & Policies.) Each state is given the amount of votes, to an elector, based off the number of representatives in Congress. The minimum amount of votes are three, while the maximum amount of votes are fifty-five.(The Founding Fathers; a Reform Caucus in Action) States are allowed to choose the electors in the method they see best. Most states, with the exception of Maine and Nebraska, use a ‘winner takes all’ system.("The Electoral College: Enlightened Democracy.") In this process, the candidate who won the popular election is given all of the electors of that state. Unlike the popular vote, a candidate must gain the majority

How exactly does the electoral college work? We the citizens of the U.S. vote for electors who in turn vote for the president. On election day, voters tally up their votes to the candidate of their choice. This normally happens on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November which is election day. Chosen electors meet in their state capitals on the Monday after the second Wednesday in December to tally up their votes for their preferred POTUS or VPOTUS. On the 6th of January, a joint session with congress takes place to declare the winners

The current process regarding the Electoral College gives the states a certain number of electors, equal to the number of delegates they have in the House of Representatives, and an additional two electors representing the two members of the Senate from each state. When a citizen casts their vote at a local voting booth, they are not voting directly for the President, but are voting for a state elector who

The United States Electoral College is ultimately the way the President is elected. The electors are first picked from their state party, and then on election day they are voted on, based on their party. Then those electors take the popular vote from their state to either pursued their vote, or not. The electors are under no obligation to vote in the way that their state did. This is one reason why sometime the popular vote and the electoral votes don’t agree.

Getting into the numbers the electoral college is made up of 538 electors.The candidate who receives a majority of electoral votes (270) wins the Presidency. “538 is the sum of the nation’s 435 Representatives,100 Senators, and 3 electors given to the District of Columbia”.(Jimmy. "What Is The Electoral College”) Electors are often selected to recognize their service and dedication to their political party. How they are elected varies throughout the United States. Generally, “the political parties nominate electors at their State party conventions or by vote of the party’s central committee in each State”.(U.S. Electoral College.” National Archives)An elector is free to vote for which ever party they’d like. For whatever reason if they do not

Given the timing, I thought it would be very appropriate to talk about this oft overlooked part of our political system. According to the National Archives, the electoral college is a group of 538 electors who decided who our president will be. It was created by the founding fathers as a compromise between a direct election and having congress select who our president would be. How does it work exactly? As the Huffington Post explains, when we go to vote on election day, we are actually choosing

(U.S National Archives and Records Administration, 2017). To choose the Electors, each state produces a slate/group of individuals for each major political party that promised to vote for their party’s candidate. (Kimberling, 1992). This means that before the popular vote there are at least 1076 individuals waiting to become Electors 538 from each major party so 538 times 2. Afterward, a popular vote is held in which the people vote for a candidate’s slate of individuals which on ballots appears to the voter as the candidate themselves. The process becomes different per state at this step, all states except Maine and Nebraska use the system called Winner-Takes-All. Maine and Nebraska use a system called proportional representation where the electoral votes are award based on the majority in each congressional district. The Winner-Takes-All system states that when a candidate wins a simple majority (50.001%) of the vote in one state, they win all the electoral votes of that state. (Morone & Kersh). Once all the states votes are compiled together the electors cast their vote at a meeting of electors which occurs in each state. Nowadays the actual meeting of electors is mostly a formality as most know the outcome as soon as the votes are counted. However, there can be faithless electors which will be described in detail later. For a presidential candidate to win they must receive a majority of electors votes

What is the Electoral College? The Electoral College is a system that our Founding Fathers established in the Constitution in which representatives from the 50 states elect the President of the United States. The system begins with the people electing representatives to represent them, and then the representatives meet so they can vote for the next President and Vice President. The votes from each representative are then counted by Congress and are able to elect the candidate that has the most votes. According to the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (2013), “The Electoral College consists of 538 electors…270 electoral votes is required to elect the President.” Every state has an

Electoral College is a block, or weighed, voting system that is designed to give more power to the states with more votes, but allows for small states to swing an election, as happened in 1876. Under this system, each state is assigned a specific number of votes that is proportional to its population, so that each state's power is representative of its population. So, while winning the popular vote may not ensure a candidate's victory, a candidate must gain popular support of a particular state to win the votes in that state. The goal of any candidate is to put together the right combination of states that will give him or her 270 electoral votes.

The Electoral College consists of elected representatives (electors) that vote for the president and vice president of the United States. Every state has a number of presidential electors that meet in their respective state capitals in December following popular presidential election. The number of presidential electors each state gets depends on the state’s population. The number of electors is exactly the same as the total number of the state’s senators, which is based on population, plus the number of its representatives in congress (Bromwich, 2016). California has the most electoral votes (55) and nine states have the minimum of three votes (Distribution, 2016).

In this system, each state has a number of electors equal to the number of Senators and Representatives. This number changes according to how large the population of the state is. The majority of the states has a “winner-take-all” system, except for Maine and Nebraska. They have a form of  proportional representation. The winner-take-all system gives the win to whoever has the most votes. However, the candidate will have a large majority that didn’t vote for them and will not represent the preferences of this majority. Maine and Nebraska’s system gives the candidate a portion of the seat in accordance to how large their percentage was in the election. This system accurately mirrors the outcome, unlike the winner-take-all system. These systems make up our electoral college. Electors in the college are usually not on the ballot. Instead, they are listed as “electors for”, on the ballot. These votes go in for electors over the candidate themselves. This is our system for today’s day and age. After this past election, many are calling for the electoral college to go or for a reform. There are also many arguments to keep it as it

Under the current system there are five hundred and thirty eight electors. Each state gets one elector, each representative, and a senator. A presidential candidate needs two hundred and seventy votes to win the election. The electors meet after the November popular election to cast their votes and officially elect the president. Electors may vote for whomever they wish. Each state's electoral votes are awarded on a winner take all bases.